Martin previously worked as an economist in Ghana’s Ministry of Trade and Industry as an Overseas Development Institute Fellow (2009-11) and was a Senior Researcher at the Economic Policy Research Institute in Cape Town (2005-09). He holds MSc degrees in African Studies and Economics for Development from Oxford University, and a BA in Economics from Williams College.
Thesis
The Organizational Basis of Government Performance: Management and Policy Implementation in Ghana’s Public Sector
Martin's doctoral thesis is on organizational performance in Ghana's government - why some parts of government function better than others. Using structured interviews across 40 central government organizations, he investigates the scope and patterns of variation in management quality across government. In the area of public financial management, Martin provides novel evidence of systematic variation in budget performance and management among spending ministries. With local governments in Ghana, Martin is currently digitizing a unique government archive of infrastructure project outcomes to better understand the technical and political determinants of public good delivery.
Supervisors: Dr Joachim Wehner| and Professor Patrick Dunleavy|
Research interests
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Public policy
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Management
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Political economy
Publications
Book Chapters and Journal Articles
“Aid, Trade, Investment, and Dependency.” In Anderson, David, and Nicholas Cheeseman (eds), The Routledge Handbook of African Politics, London: Routledge, 2013.
“The Gold Standard of Governance: Mining, Decentralization, and State Power in Senegal.” Politique Africaine 117, March 2010.
Working Papers
“One Size Does Not Fit All: Understanding Budget Performance in Ghana’s Spending Ministries”. April 2014.
“Where Are the Effective Organizations in Developing Country Governments? Evidence from Ghana”. March 2014.
“The Social and Economic Impacts of South Africa’s Child Support Grant.” Cape Town: Economic Policy Research Institute Working Paper #39 (extended version) and #40 (short version), November 2007.
Policy Briefs and Book Reviews
“There Is More Than One ‘Public Sector Way’: The Diversity of Management Practices in Ghana’s Government”. Policy Brief for Government of Ghana, November 2013.
“Different Problems, Different Solutions? Budget Performance and Practices in Ghana’s Ministries”. Policy Brief for Government of Ghana, November 2013.
Book Review: Beck, Linda, “Brokering Democracy in Africa: The Rise of Clientelist Democracy in Senegal,” Politique Africaine 115, October 2009.
Contact
Personal website: www.martinjwilliams.com|
Email: M.J.Williams@lse.ac.uk|