PUBLIC-SECTOR REFORM IN NEW-ZEALAND AND ITS RELEVANCE TO DEVELOPING-COUNTRIES

Does New Zealand's success story have lessons far developing countries contemplating public sector reform? That question usually elicits one of two reactions, both inadvisable in the authors' view. The first re action is to be impressed with the efficacy of the reforms and conclud e that they should be adopted uncritically in other countries. The sec ond reaction is that the special conditions existing in New Zealand ar e such that none of its reform experience is relevant to others. The a uthors take a middle position, maintaining that poorer countries can i ndeed extrapolate from the experience of their higher income neighbor despite the different conditions tinder which they have to operate. Ne w Zealand's comprehensive overhaul of its public sector affords bath g eneral principles and specific elements relevant to countries looking to improve the quality, efficiency, and cost effectiveness of their pu blic service sectors, and a careful analysis of those reforms can asce rtain what might be transferable and what principles might apply.