Development as a complex process of change: Conception and analysis of projects, programs and policies

Development is often understood as a linear process of change towards Western modernity, a vision that is challenged by this paper, arguing that development efforts should rather be connected to the local stakeholders’ sense of their own development. Further, the paper contends that Complexity Theory is more effective than a linear theory of causality to analyze development and education efforts: hence, instead of studying the effects of separate development actions, the integrated factors leading to change should be considered. It is only after such analysis has been conducted, that questions of cost efficiency should be considered, using insights from the field of New Institutional Economics to avoid problems related to the stakeholders’ bounded rationality and asymmetric information leading to moral hazard.