ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the performances of Contemporary departmental development corporations (CORDES) and their predecessors under the Integrated Regional Development (IRD) and Disaster Relief, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction (DRR) projects and, where possible, assesses the enduring impacts of these projects on the corporations. It examines governmental responsiveness, planning, managerial, and technical capabilities, resource mobilization and management, economic development and interorganizational networks at the regional and local levels. In addition to disbursement problems, implementation of Agency for International Development projects through central ministries has usually been slowed by red tape and overcentralization of authority. The DRR project facilitated mutually beneficial cooperation between corporations and resource-starved field offices of central government agencies, ameliorating problems of horizontal coordination at the regional level. The IRD project reinforced the roles of local organizations in decision making and served as a catalyst for cooperation among different communities benefiting from a common component.
