POLICY CHANGE AND IMPLEMENTATION REGIMES: LESSONS FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LAND POLICY CHANGE AT THE SUB NATIONAL LEVEL IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT The aim of this research project is an inquiry into the intersection between institutional design of policies and organizational behavior on policy outcomes. Specifically, it is a comparative case study that seeks to examine the different implementation styles adopted by some Nigerian states in the reforms on land property rights. The reforms as gauged by the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index shows that the outcomes were mixed; while they were considered a success in some states, in others they were seen as failed reforms. Thus, the research question the project seeks to answer is: How do some states succeed in implementing and sustaining a policy change, while others are less able to do so? The study focuses on the different institutional designs as well as implementation styles adopted by some selected Nigerian states which resulted in varying degrees of success. This differential outcomes according to theories on delegation, implementation and policy regimes arises from the interplay of the contents of different sets of procedural prescriptions: on the one side, the mandate to decide, which establishes boundaries, conditions and aims of an agency’s legitimate discretion in policy implementation; and on the other, the obligations to account, which enforce, relax or restrict such latitude. Therefore, the project seeks to further the applicability of these frameworks to weak institutional contexts by exploring variations in the institutional designs of policy delegation and implementation across some selected states in Nigeria. A triangulation strategy was employed to collect data in three (3) states of Nigeria, using both primary sources (structured interviews) as well secondary sources (policy documents, administrative manuals and procedures, legislation, reports, minutes of meetings, public hearings, executive directives, and organizational organograms). The collected data was qualitatively coded and analyzed.