Public Sector Reform in New Zealand and Its Relevance to Developing Countries

Does New Zealand's success story have lessons for developingcountries contemplating public sector reform? That questionusually elicits one of two reactions, both inadvisable in theauthors' view. The first reaction is to be impressed with theefficacy of the reforms and conclude that they should be adopteduncritically in other countries. The second reaction is thatthe special conditions existing in New Zealand are such thatnone of its reform experience is relevant to others. The authorstake a middle position, maintaining that poorer countries canindeed extrapolate from the experience of their higher incomeneighbor despite the different conditions under which they haveto operate. New Zealand's comprehensive overhaul of its publicsector affords both general principles and specific elementsrelevant to countries looking to improve the quality, efficiency,and cost effectiveness of their public service sectors, anda careful analysis of those reforms can ascertain what mightbe transferable and what principles might apply.