Approaches to Integrated Rural Development (IRD)

Kennedy School of Government and Institute of International Development to conduct a study to determine the effectiveness of various approaches to integrated rural development (IRD). This study will focus on the horizontal integration of different public services at the local level such as health, agriculture, water, education, and credit. Researchers will begin with a review of existing state-of-the-art knowledge and experience in IRD as related to three specific issues: improvements in allocative efficiency, improvements in administrative efficiency, and improvements in the development process. In addition, project personnel will expand the existing state-of-the-art knowledge by developing and applying analytical models of administrative and economic integration from other similar contexts. This process will involve a series of colloquia among members of the faculty of the Kennedy School of Government. The researchers will look at literature on U.S. industrial organization and case studies of integrated public services in the United States. As a third step, the experiences of responsible decisionmakers currently engaged in the planning and administration of IRD projects will be analyzed. Two data-gathering methods will be used in this analysis -- the critical incident technique and the policy or decision seminar. At least three case studies of 30-l00 pages each will be prepared. It is intended that the studies will later be used in classroom teaching at the graduate level or in the training of higher-level civil servants in developing countries. Under separate funding, additional prototype case studies of IRD administrative experiences in one or more developing countries will be prepared. This project is intended as a first step in the implementation of a long-term international development case study program.