Prelims

Half Title Page

Obsessive Measurement Disorder or Pragmatic Bureaucracy?

Title Page

Obsessive Measurement Disorder or Pragmatic Bureaucracy?: Coping With Uncertainty in Development Aid Relations

By

Susanna Alexius

Stockholm Centre for Organizational Research (Score), Sweden

And

Janet Vähämäki

Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Sweden

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Emerald Publishing, Floor 5, Northspring, 21-23 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL

First edition 2024

Copyright © 2024 Susanna Alexius and Janet Vähämäki. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited.

This work is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence.

Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this book (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode.

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access and is freely available to read online.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-80117-377-3 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-80117-374-2 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-80117-376-6 (Epub)

Preface

It seems that the world is becoming increasingly complex by the minute, and that, as a consequence, decision-makers in every field must learn to cope with the uncertainties involved when tackling grand societal challenges. Considering these urgent needs, we are truly grateful to the Swedish Research Council for the two generous grants that have enabled us to study and share insights gained on when, how, and why measurements become counterproductive or lead to so-called obsessive measurement disorder (OMD). We have studied how the true experts in this regard, aid bureaucrats, respond to uncertainty while facing great and often unrealistic demands for certainty.

Following the everyday efforts of these aid bureaucrats to find and forge paths through the dense administrative jungle has left us, as researchers and fellow citizens, both humbled and hopeful. For we have been pleasantly surprised to find more of what we call “pragmatic bureaucracy” than of the dreaded obsessive measurement disorder.

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of you who in one way or another have enabled and supported our research journey. First and foremost, to all of our generous informants for taking the time to reflect and share – thank you! Thanks also to our brilliant colleagues, students, and practitioner advisors for taking the time to read drafts and for your constructive ideas and suggestions. And to the team of transcribers, the anonymous reviewers and the supportive team at Emerald for your encouragement! Thanks to our eminent language editor Kelly Olsson for improving both our English and our arguments, and to our wonderful research assistant Alice Tunfjord for everything. And last but not least, a warm thank you to our families and friends for the love and day-in day-out support necessary to complete a book project!

In the end, although there is seldom a clear-cut recipe for decision-makers in highly complex settings, let us not forget that development aid should be more about developing people and societies, than developing measurements.

Stockholm, Sweden, June 2023

Susanna Alexius and Janet Vähämäki