A substantial consensus has emerged in development circles that the reason why some countries are rich and others poor is largely a reflection of the quality of their institutions – political, bureaucratic, and legal – and that countries with seriously dysfunctional institutions cannot expect to pursue a successful long-term trajectory of economic and social development. Many studies support this consensus, but institutional reform efforts for developed countries have resulted in mixed to weak results; many of these efforts have failed, for example, to establish a robust rule of law to protect the rights of citizens, publicly accountable political regimes, a meritocratic, noncorrupt, and efficient bureaucracy, and an independent media. Reportedly up to 60% of donor-assisted reforms have yielded no measurable increase in government effectiveness. It is inferred from this disappointing result that institutional transplants are often ineffective, and the path dependence, caused by accretions of the particularities of given countries’ histories, cultures, politics, ethnic and religious make-up, and geography leaves each country, for the most part, “to write its own history”.

中文翻译：

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善治困境：难以捉摸的榜样

发展界已经形成了一个实质性的共识，即一些国家富而另一些国家之所以贫穷，很大程度上反映了它们的制度质量——政治、官僚和法律——而制度严重失调的国家不能指望追求成功经济社会发展的长期轨迹。许多研究支持这一共识，但发达国家的体制改革努力导致结果喜忧参半；其中许多努力都失败了，例如，建立健全的法治以保护公民的权利、建立对公众负责的政治制度、精英、廉洁和高效的官僚机构以及独立的媒体。据报道，多达 60% 的捐助者协助改革并未显着提高政府效率。