Decentralization of Health and Education in Developing Countries : A Quality-Adjusted Review of the Empirical Literature

We review empirical evidence on the ability of decentralization to enhance preference matching and technical efficiency in the provision of health and education in developing countries. Many influential surveys have found that the empirical evidence of decentralization's effects on service deli...

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Main Authors:	Channa, Anila, Faguet, Jean-Paul
Format:	Journal Article
Published:	Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank 2018
Subjects:	DECENTRALIZATION DEVELOPING COUNTRIES PREFERENCE MATCHING TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY SCHOOL-BASED MANAGEMENT SERVICE DELIVERY EDUCATION HEALTH
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29307

id	okr-10986-29307
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-293072021-05-25T10:54:43Z Decentralization of Health and Education in Developing Countries : A Quality-Adjusted Review of the Empirical Literature Channa, Anila Faguet, Jean-Paul DECENTRALIZATION DEVELOPING COUNTRIES PREFERENCE MATCHING TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY SCHOOL-BASED MANAGEMENT SERVICE DELIVERY EDUCATION HEALTH We review empirical evidence on the ability of decentralization to enhance preference matching and technical efficiency in the provision of health and education in developing countries. Many influential surveys have found that the empirical evidence of decentralization's effects on service delivery is weak, incomplete, and often contradictory. Our own unweighted reading of the literature concurs. However, when we organize quantitative evidence first by substantive theme, and then—crucially—by empirical quality and the credibility of its identification strategy, clear patterns emerge. Higher-quality evidence indicates that decentralization increases technical efficiency across a variety of public services, from student test scores to infant mortality rates. Decentralization also improves preference matching in education, and can do so in health under certain conditions, although there is less evidence for both. We discuss individual studies in some detail. Weighting by quality is especially important when quantitative evidence informs policy-making. Firmer conclusions will require an increased focus on research design, and a deeper examination into the prerequisites and mechanisms of successful reforms. 2018-02-02T19:26:46Z 2018-02-02T19:26:46Z 2016-08 Journal Article World Bank Research Observer 1564-6971 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29307 CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank Publications & Research :: Journal Article Publications & Research Africa East Asia and Pacific Latin America & Caribbean South Asia
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
topic	DECENTRALIZATION DEVELOPING COUNTRIES PREFERENCE MATCHING TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY SCHOOL-BASED MANAGEMENT SERVICE DELIVERY EDUCATION HEALTH
spellingShingle	DECENTRALIZATION DEVELOPING COUNTRIES PREFERENCE MATCHING TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY SCHOOL-BASED MANAGEMENT SERVICE DELIVERY EDUCATION HEALTH Channa, Anila Faguet, Jean-Paul Decentralization of Health and Education in Developing Countries : A Quality-Adjusted Review of the Empirical Literature
geographic_facet	Africa East Asia and Pacific Latin America & Caribbean South Asia
description	We review empirical evidence on the ability of decentralization to enhance preference matching and technical efficiency in the provision of health and education in developing countries. Many influential surveys have found that the empirical evidence of decentralization's effects on service delivery is weak, incomplete, and often contradictory. Our own unweighted reading of the literature concurs. However, when we organize quantitative evidence first by substantive theme, and then—crucially—by empirical quality and the credibility of its identification strategy, clear patterns emerge. Higher-quality evidence indicates that decentralization increases technical efficiency across a variety of public services, from student test scores to infant mortality rates. Decentralization also improves preference matching in education, and can do so in health under certain conditions, although there is less evidence for both. We discuss individual studies in some detail. Weighting by quality is especially important when quantitative evidence informs policy-making. Firmer conclusions will require an increased focus on research design, and a deeper examination into the prerequisites and mechanisms of successful reforms.
format	Journal Article
author	Channa, Anila Faguet, Jean-Paul
author_facet	Channa, Anila Faguet, Jean-Paul
author_sort	Channa, Anila
title	Decentralization of Health and Education in Developing Countries : A Quality-Adjusted Review of the Empirical Literature
title_short	Decentralization of Health and Education in Developing Countries : A Quality-Adjusted Review of the Empirical Literature
title_full	Decentralization of Health and Education in Developing Countries : A Quality-Adjusted Review of the Empirical Literature
title_fullStr	Decentralization of Health and Education in Developing Countries : A Quality-Adjusted Review of the Empirical Literature
title_full_unstemmed	Decentralization of Health and Education in Developing Countries : A Quality-Adjusted Review of the Empirical Literature
title_sort	decentralization of health and education in developing countries : a quality-adjusted review of the empirical literature
publisher	Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank
publishDate	2018
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29307
_version_	1764469018395148288

Decentralization of Health and Education in Developing Countries : A Quality-Adjusted Review of the Empirical Literature

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