Dear E- Druggers
It is largely recognized that States in developing countries are not
able to regulate health market. This explains the expansion of the
informal provision of health care and the development of informal
distribution of drugs. As Mr Bryan Walser asked on this conference
(His message of 23 Feb. 1997), it is "time to go beyond the
established bureaucratic, regulatory, command-and-control paradigm
(which is already almost collapsing of its own ancient, dusty,
creaking weight...) and try to use the enormous body of literature and
knowledge which has been gathered by thousands of profit-oriented
companies on influencing and manipulating market behaviour in the
developed countries".
An alternative policy should be built on reality. Participation,
people livelihood should be the main concerns of policy makers. In
order to "manipulate market behaviour", the first step is to
understand how the informal drugs market functions. What are the
constraints and incentives defining people behaviour in informal drugs
transactions. My study on Informal Drugs Market in Kinshasa (Za<re)
demonstrate the usefulness of Institutional Economics approach. Two
concepts are widely used in the study : uncertainty and governance.
Uncertainty is the situation of a person who can't predict the outcome
of his action or decision. Governance is defined as the process
conducting to a particular pattern of behaviour on the market.
Here are some findings of the study:
- There are three forms of uncertainties when transacting informally :
uncertainty on products, on partners and on institutions governing the
market.
- There are four key dimensions of market governance: information,
conflicts resolution, institutional evolution and responsibility.
- Several actors or institutions intervene in market governance
(buyers, sellers, organizations, state, families etc.) at several
levels (individual, societal, legal).
A search for an alternative policy, without studying institutions that
define constraints shaping behaviour on the informal drugs market, is
illusory. Because, as Bromley stated, "a market without institutions
is a contradiction in terms".
Kizito Nsarhaza
United Nations Research Institute for Social Development
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