Dissertation... initial stages

You probably know that I am working on my dissertation. In it I investigate the ability of some governments to reform their bureaucracies and promote economic development.

I have chosen to look at the Irrigation Agencies in Thailand and Indonesia. So, every once in a while, I will put up a few interesting tidbits from my work.

Agriculture accounts for about 1/3 of all fresh water used on the planet; in some countries that number climbs to over 90%. In order for a country to develop economically, the proportion needs to shift toward industrial and urban use. That is not saying water for irrigation isn't important, it just needs to be used more efficiently to free up water necessary for cities and industry.

Here are some interesting pie charts I have made using data from the World Bank's World Development Indicators database.

As you can see, the USA's distribution of fresh water withdrawls is almost split evenly between ag (41.2%) and industry (46%). Domestic use makes up the rest (13%).

A country that has more recently entered the high-income category, South Korea, shows a different distribution. Ag (48%), Industry (16.41%), and domestic use (35.61%). In both cases, agricultural water use runs at less than 50%.

In contrast, Thailand and Indonesia both use over 90% of their fresh water for agriculture (sorry for the upload quality), even though agricultural production has shrunk to only a small percentage of GDP.
I argue that this is an indicator of poor performance in irrigation management. But both countries have had access to some of the world's best advice and training on irrigation. Why, then, have they been unable to become more efficient at its use?

That is part of what I am setting out to answer.

I realize that this post is a very simplistic representation of this problem, glossing over many issues (direction of causality, alternative explanations, etc). If you are interested in the long version of the argument, I can provide it along with an extensive bibliography.