Organized by
Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) & India Public Policy Network (IPPN)

Supported by
JSW School of Public Policy, IIMA

State Capacity: What Is It and Why Is It Needed?

Reflecting on the recent past, two simultaneous forces are in play pertaining to capacities of governments – on the one hand, governments are expected to respond swiftly and effectively to risks and uncertainties; and on the other hand, there is a general increase in the expectations that citizens have from their governments in terms of breadth and depth of capacities. Governments are expected to handle issues related to governance of emerging technologies just as capably as issues related to social welfare. These dynamics require a systematic understanding of state capacity both at the conceptual and practical level.

The overarching motivating question is: State capacity for what? Sub-questions pertain to:

• What are the types and attributes of state capacity?
• What factors determine existence and level of state capacity?
• How can state capacity be enhanced?
• What are the changing expectations from and challenges to state capacity?
• How does state capacity affect policy design and outcomes?

These questions and sub-questions are not meant to be comprehensive, and we welcome submissions on a wide variety of important current and emerging public policy and public management issues that may not be directly aligned with the theme of state capacity.

The IPPN Annual Conference 2022 aims to bring together scholars and practitioners not only from India but also from across the world through high-quality academic research and policy case studies.

Conference will be held in a hybrid (in-person and online) format. In-person sessions will be held at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad campus on December 13 and 14, 2022 with a simultaneous option to present and participate online.

The conference is open to public policy scholars and practitioners from India and rest of the world.

All the registered participants will be given conference materials, and food and snacks for two days. Participation certificate will be provided to participants who register and present at the conference.

The conference proceedings will be in English; no simultaneous translation will be available.

1. Prof. Namrata Chindarkar, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
2. Prof. Navdeep Mathur, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
3. Prof. Rama Mohan Turaga, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
4. Prof. Ankur Sarin, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
5. Prof. Chinmay Tumbe, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
6. Prof. Satyajit Singh, University of California Santa Barbara
7. Prof. Michael Howlett, Simon Fraser University
8. Prof. M Ramesh, National University of Singapore