This study seeks to shed light on the political economy of public management reform. It examines the new forms of economic decentralization and macroeconomic adjustment, and discusses their implications for policy design and regulation. The authors discuss research on public management reform, privatization and decentralization in both industrialized and aid-dependent countries, concentrating on the meso level of institutional response. Combining theory, case studies and institutional analysis, they focus on issues including public/private partnerships, public finance and aid allocation. They...