Aziz Klebleyev
"My interest in the role of government in economic development made the Ragnar Nurkse School of Innovation and Governance at Tallinn University of Technology, with its deep focus on Technology and Innovation Governance, a perfect destination for my research visit. Three main goals that I set for myself at the outset of the program were: (1) taking courses with the TUT Technology Governance faculty, (2) writing and submitting a paper to an academic journal, and (3) preparing a draft of my thesis proposal.The first goal of my trip has been fully accomplished. As it was planned initially, I took the History of Economic Policy and the Theory of Uneven Development; State and Governance; Public Management and Administration; and Introduction to Types of Capitalism courses.
In addition to these courses I also have attended Finance, Innovation and Development; Technological Change, Techno-Economic Paradigms and Changing Opportunities for Development; Types of Capitalism; and Empirical-Historical Economics: The German Historical School. I was also able to meet and discuss my current paper and future research ideas during one-on-one meetings with Professor Carlota Perez, Professor Erik Reinert and Professor Jan Kregel, all of whom provided me with valuable feedback and suggestions.
The second goal of my visit to TUT was writing and submitting a paper to an academic journal. This paper, preliminarily entitled “Public Savings, Economic Growth, and the Role of Government: Case of Uzbekistan”, looks at the economic policies in Uzbekistan after it gained its independence. In the paper I used ideas put forward by Ragnar Nurkse in the early second half of the past century.
In addition to the goals that I have set for myself when applying for the DoRa funding, I was also given great learning opportunities during two working trips that I have participated in during my stay at TUT. During the first trip I have accompanied Professor Wolfgang Drechsler, Chair of Governance and Vice Dean of International Relations of the Faculty of Social Sciences, and Professor Tiina Randma-Liiv, Chair of Public Management and Policy and Vice Dean of Academic Affairs, on their visit to Guangxi Institute of Public Administration in Nanning, China. There a Memorandum of Understanding between the TUT Faculty of Social Sciences and the Guangxi Institute of Public Administration was signed. During this trip, I was able to gain first-hand experience of civil servant training in China as well as to participate in lectures and discussions between TUT and GIPA faculty.
The second trip was for a seminar on Non-Western Public Administration that was conducted by Professor Drechsler in Istanbul, Turkey. Together with eight other former and current PhD students of Professor Drechsler, we discussed the Ottoman/Islamic Public Administration as one of the most prominent public administration systems that have developed parallel to the Western PA. This discussion allowed me reexamine the contribution of Muslim countries to PA theory and practice as well as to deepen my understanding of current mainstream PA."
Aziz Klebleyev (Uzbekistan, student at Florida International University), visiting PhD student (2011/2012), DoRa 5 scholarship recipient.
