Symbolic Public Goods and the Coordination of Collective Action : A Comparison of Local Development in India and Indonesia
Most economists think of common property as physical-a body of water, a forest-and as bounded within geographic space. In this paper, building on work in social theory, the author argues that common property can also be social-defined within symbolic space. People can be bound by well-defined symbol...
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/08/6213854/symbolic-public-goods-coordination-collective-action-comparison-local-development-india-indonesia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8609 |
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okr-10986-86092021-04-23T14:02:43Z Symbolic Public Goods and the Coordination of Collective Action : A Comparison of Local Development in India and Indonesia Rao, Vijayendra ACCOUNTABILITY ASYMMETRIC INFORMATION COALITIONS COLLECTIVE ACTION COMMON PROPERTY COMMON PROPERTY RESOURCES COMMUNIST COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS CONSTITUTION CONSTITUTIONS CORRUPTION COUNCILS CRISES DECENTRALIZATION DEMOCRACY DEMOCRATIC REFORMS DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS DEVELOPMENT WORKS DICTATORSHIP DISCRIMINATION DONOR AGENCIES ECONOMIC BEHAVIOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC EXCHANGE ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC MODELS ECONOMIC WELFARE ECONOMICS ECONOMICS RESEARCH ECONOMISTS EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE EQUILIBRIUM EXPENDITURE EXPENDITURES FISCAL GAME THEORY GNP GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IDEOLOGIES INCOME INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR INEQUALITY LEGITIMACY LIVING STANDARDS LOCAL GOVERNMENTS LOCAL LEVELS MORTALITY NATIONALISM NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES PANCHAYATS PER CAPITA INCOMES POLICY RESEARCH POLITICAL AUTHORITY POLITICAL CHANGE POLITICAL LEADERS POLITICAL PARTIES POLITICAL PARTY POLITICAL POWER POLITICIANS PRIMARY EDUCATION PRIMARY SCHOOL PRIME MINISTER PUBLIC GOOD PUBLIC GOODS PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS PUBLIC SERVICE PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY SANCTIONS SOCIAL CAPITAL SOCIAL CHANGE SOCIAL NORMS STATE AUTHORITY STATE CONTROL TAXATION TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS TRANSPARENCY URBAN AREAS WEALTH YOUNG WOMEN Most economists think of common property as physical-a body of water, a forest-and as bounded within geographic space. In this paper, building on work in social theory, the author argues that common property can also be social-defined within symbolic space. People can be bound by well-defined symbolic agglomerations that have characteristics similar to common property. He calls these "symbolic public goods" (SPGs) and make the case that such constructs are central to understanding collective action. He illustrates the point by contrasting how conceptions of nationalism in Indonesia and India created SPGs that resulted in very different strategies of local development. Indonesia emphasized collective action by the poor that resulted in a form of regressive taxation, enforced by the ideology of svadaya gotong royong (community self-help) that was both internalized and coercively enforced. India emphasized democratic decentralization through the panchayat system driven by the Gandhian ideology of gram swaraj (self-reliant villages). This has resulted in an unusual equity-efficiency tradeoff. Indonesia has delivered public services much more efficiently than India did, but at the cost of democratic freedoms and voice. The author argues that the challenge for these countries is not to undermine their existing SPGs but to build on them. Indonesia should retain the spirit of svadaya gotong royong but channel it in an equitable and democratic direction, while India should build the capacity of the panchayat system by giving it fiscal teeth, while promoting underutilized institutions such as Gram Sabhas (village meetings) that encourage accountability and transparency. 2012-06-20T22:16:08Z 2012-06-20T22:16:08Z 2005-08 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/08/6213854/symbolic-public-goods-coordination-collective-action-comparison-local-development-india-indonesia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8609 English Policy Research Working Paper; No. 3685 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research South Asia East Asia and Pacific India Indonesia |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
ACCOUNTABILITY ASYMMETRIC INFORMATION COALITIONS COLLECTIVE ACTION COMMON PROPERTY COMMON PROPERTY RESOURCES COMMUNIST COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS CONSTITUTION CONSTITUTIONS CORRUPTION COUNCILS CRISES DECENTRALIZATION DEMOCRACY DEMOCRATIC REFORMS DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS DEVELOPMENT WORKS DICTATORSHIP DISCRIMINATION DONOR AGENCIES ECONOMIC BEHAVIOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC EXCHANGE ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC MODELS ECONOMIC WELFARE ECONOMICS ECONOMICS RESEARCH ECONOMISTS EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE EQUILIBRIUM EXPENDITURE EXPENDITURES FISCAL GAME THEORY GNP GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IDEOLOGIES INCOME INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR INEQUALITY LEGITIMACY LIVING STANDARDS LOCAL GOVERNMENTS LOCAL LEVELS MORTALITY NATIONALISM NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES PANCHAYATS PER CAPITA INCOMES POLICY RESEARCH POLITICAL AUTHORITY POLITICAL CHANGE POLITICAL LEADERS POLITICAL PARTIES POLITICAL PARTY POLITICAL POWER POLITICIANS PRIMARY EDUCATION PRIMARY SCHOOL PRIME MINISTER PUBLIC GOOD PUBLIC GOODS PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS PUBLIC SERVICE PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY SANCTIONS SOCIAL CAPITAL SOCIAL CHANGE SOCIAL NORMS STATE AUTHORITY STATE CONTROL TAXATION TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS TRANSPARENCY URBAN AREAS WEALTH YOUNG WOMEN |
| spellingShingle |
ACCOUNTABILITY ASYMMETRIC INFORMATION COALITIONS COLLECTIVE ACTION COMMON PROPERTY COMMON PROPERTY RESOURCES COMMUNIST COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS CONSTITUTION CONSTITUTIONS CORRUPTION COUNCILS CRISES DECENTRALIZATION DEMOCRACY DEMOCRATIC REFORMS DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS DEVELOPMENT WORKS DICTATORSHIP DISCRIMINATION DONOR AGENCIES ECONOMIC BEHAVIOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC EXCHANGE ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC MODELS ECONOMIC WELFARE ECONOMICS ECONOMICS RESEARCH ECONOMISTS EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE EQUILIBRIUM EXPENDITURE EXPENDITURES FISCAL GAME THEORY GNP GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IDEOLOGIES INCOME INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR INEQUALITY LEGITIMACY LIVING STANDARDS LOCAL GOVERNMENTS LOCAL LEVELS MORTALITY NATIONALISM NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES PANCHAYATS PER CAPITA INCOMES POLICY RESEARCH POLITICAL AUTHORITY POLITICAL CHANGE POLITICAL LEADERS POLITICAL PARTIES POLITICAL PARTY POLITICAL POWER POLITICIANS PRIMARY EDUCATION PRIMARY SCHOOL PRIME MINISTER PUBLIC GOOD PUBLIC GOODS PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS PUBLIC SERVICE PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY SANCTIONS SOCIAL CAPITAL SOCIAL CHANGE SOCIAL NORMS STATE AUTHORITY STATE CONTROL TAXATION TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS TRANSPARENCY URBAN AREAS WEALTH YOUNG WOMEN Rao, Vijayendra Symbolic Public Goods and the Coordination of Collective Action : A Comparison of Local Development in India and Indonesia |
| geographic_facet |
South Asia East Asia and Pacific India Indonesia |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper; No. 3685 |
| description |
Most economists think of common property as physical-a body of water, a forest-and as bounded within geographic space. In this paper, building on work in social theory, the author argues that common property can also be social-defined within symbolic space. People can be bound by well-defined symbolic agglomerations that have characteristics similar to common property. He calls these "symbolic public goods" (SPGs) and make the case that such constructs are central to understanding collective action. He illustrates the point by contrasting how conceptions of nationalism in Indonesia and India created SPGs that resulted in very different strategies of local development. Indonesia emphasized collective action by the poor that resulted in a form of regressive taxation, enforced by the ideology of svadaya gotong royong (community self-help) that was both internalized and coercively enforced. India emphasized democratic decentralization through the panchayat system driven by the Gandhian ideology of gram swaraj (self-reliant villages). This has resulted in an unusual equity-efficiency tradeoff. Indonesia has delivered public services much more efficiently than India did, but at the cost of democratic freedoms and voice. The author argues that the challenge for these countries is not to undermine their existing SPGs but to build on them. Indonesia should retain the spirit of svadaya gotong royong but channel it in an equitable and democratic direction, while India should build the capacity of the panchayat system by giving it fiscal teeth, while promoting underutilized institutions such as Gram Sabhas (village meetings) that encourage accountability and transparency. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| author |
Rao, Vijayendra |
| author_facet |
Rao, Vijayendra |
| author_sort |
Rao, Vijayendra |
| title |
Symbolic Public Goods and the Coordination of Collective Action : A Comparison of Local Development in India and Indonesia |
| title_short |
Symbolic Public Goods and the Coordination of Collective Action : A Comparison of Local Development in India and Indonesia |
| title_full |
Symbolic Public Goods and the Coordination of Collective Action : A Comparison of Local Development in India and Indonesia |
| title_fullStr |
Symbolic Public Goods and the Coordination of Collective Action : A Comparison of Local Development in India and Indonesia |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Symbolic Public Goods and the Coordination of Collective Action : A Comparison of Local Development in India and Indonesia |
| title_sort |
symbolic public goods and the coordination of collective action : a comparison of local development in india and indonesia |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2012 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/08/6213854/symbolic-public-goods-coordination-collective-action-comparison-local-development-india-indonesia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8609 |
| _version_ |
1764407634942754816 |