The State Capacity in Kazakhstan: The Economic Diversification

Abstract

Today, the Kazakhstani Government tries to implement the great structural changes to the national economy. The issue of the economic diversification is on the focus of the Government. However, the major research question lies on the issue of the state capacity. The process of the economic diversification could be an indicator of the state capacity of Kazakhstan. This MA thesis contributes to the research of the state capacity through the process of the economic diversification. The state capacity could be seen as the elusive definition. However, the assessment of the results of the economic diversification allows estimating the state capacity of the Kazakhstani government. This indication leads to study the role of the state in introducing structural changes. The mixed research design has been chosen for conducting the research for this thesis. The combination of qualitative and quantitative methods helped to include the numerical data and the meaning data from the secondary sources. As a result, it helped to draw the interpretation of the numerical data to the meaning and words of the secondary data. The results, which were revealed in the process of the research demonstrates that the process of the economic diversification largely is not successful. Despite the many state-led programs and initiatives, the process of the economic diversification failed. The rent reliance on the mineral resources undermined the state capacity though the state apparatus. As a result, the state capacity of Kazakhstani government has weaknesses and the state has certain limits to ability to implement its decisions.