The Evolving Role of the Central Planning Offices in Latin America: A Political Transaction Cost Perspective

This research analyses the conditions that determine the evolving role of the central planning agencies in Latin America. The theory posits that variations in administrative design across agencies reflect the interplay of political forces at the moment of the organization’s creation. Theory also suggests that the essence of creating an organization is to impose transaction costs on coalitions that want to change the original design. To determine whether the facts meet theoretical expectations a comparative case study research design is proposed. In particular, the study examines variation across countries and time in the structural design of the central planning offices in Colombia and Peru.