Government workers in developing countries sometimes lean into 'Third World' stereotypes just to explain away their own bad work.
SSRN · March 17, 2026 · 6261358
The Takeaway
The paper identifies a 'Competence Shield' where public servants adopt a narrative of national inferiority to lower their own Key Performance Indicators. By leaning into the idea that their country is inevitably 'developing' or 'broken,' they create a strategic excuse for micro-failures, even when the state actually has the capacity to fix the problem.
From the abstract
This paper introduces the theoretical construct of the "Competence Shield"-a psychological and administrative defense mechanism observed in public administration within emerging economies. Through an auto-ethnographic analysis of a critical incident involving a senior diplomat and local law enforcement in a rapidly developing Host Country, this study isolates a specific breakdown in Nation Branding. While the State demonstrated high capacity in resolving a breakdown of rule of law, the subsequen