State and COVID-19 Response in the Asian Tiger Economies

By comparing the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Tiger economies, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore, this article examines the advantages and limitations of the statist command and control approaches to crisis management. Local, regional, and global politics as well as global political economy impinge and influence the state response. The article argues that a combination of factors – the institutional memory, overall state capacity and efficacy rooted in the preexisting institutional nexus, performance legitimacy, trust, reliance on scientific rationality, and integration with global scientific networks – stood in good stead in dealing with the crisis. Yet, as the crisis rolled on, some of the stellar performers showed considerable gaps in planning and politics trumped sensible policies. Despite the commonality, the article shows that there were important differences in the responses of the three Tiger economies, especially in rolling out the vaccines, which can be explained not only by the state capacity but also the larger global politico-economic contexts. The article argues that the state capacity is affected by the global dynamics, the specificity of geopolitical and historical contexts, which must be factored in in explaining successes and failures of state responses.

Testing Saudi State Capacity: A Study to Investigate How the Government Responded to the covid-19 Pandemic

This study aimed at testing Saudi state capacity in its response to the covid-19 pandemic. The model investigated the significant impact of different curfew levels (a measure of state capacity) on covid-19 cases across five main cities. We used a Negative Binomial regression model to study the association between the covid-19 cases and other independent variables that include curfew levels. Our regression results have tested Saudi state capacity in four different curfew levels, revealing that the Saudi government exhibited its ability to implement one curfew level that decreased covid-19 cases. This curfew level (four) was the most effective policy implementation of all levels that assessed state capacity but required more resources and manpower. Hence, the Saudi state has the capacity to implement its desired policies, however, it needs an increased number of resources and manpower to do that. These findings render comparative implications to gcc monarchies and other Arab countries.

State reach and development in Africa since the 1960s: new data and analysis

Prominent arguments hold that African states’ geography limits state capacity, impedes public service provision, and slows economic development. To test this argument, I collect comprehensive panel data on a proxy of local state capacity, travel times to national and regional capitals. These are computed on a yearly 5 × 5 km grid using time-varying data on roads and administrative units (1966–2016). I use these data to estimate the effect of changes in travel times to capitals on local education provision, infant mortality rates, and nightlight emissions. Within the same location, decreases in travel times to its capitals are robustly associated with improved development outcomes. The article advances the measurement of state capacity and contributes to understanding its effects on human welfare.