In his seminal work, Embedded Autonomy: States and Industrial Transformation, American sociologist Peter B. Evans contends that the state has an important role to play in the development of nations. Evans argues that while the bureaucracy requires autonomy from society, a degree of embeddedness is required in order that development can be achieved. The state and its agencies, therefore, cannot effectively involve itself in economic matters without the contribution of non-state actors, and necessarily, state institutions must be independent of private interests. Evans contends that a comparative institutional method is required – one that is premised on the understanding that developmental outcomes depend not only on the general character of state structures, but also on the roles that the state pursues.