Assessing the Longer Term Impact of Community-Driven Development Programs : Evidence from a Field Experiment in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Community-driven development programs are a popular model for service delivery and socioeconomic development, especially in countries reeling from civil strife. Despite their popularity, the evidence on their impact is mixed at best. Most studies t...

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Main Authors: Mvukiyehe, Eric, van der Windt, Peter
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/548521580495457933/Assessing-the-Longer-Term-Impact-of-Community-Driven-Development-Programs-Evidence-from-a-Field-Experiment-in-the-Democratic-Republic-of-Congo
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33296
id okr-10986-33296
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-332962022-09-20T00:13:05Z Assessing the Longer Term Impact of Community-Driven Development Programs : Evidence from a Field Experiment in the Democratic Republic of Congo Mvukiyehe, Eric van der Windt, Peter COMMUNITY-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT SERVICE DELIVERY SOCIAL COHESION ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FIELD EXPERIMENT CIVIL CONFLICT PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT ECONOMIC WELFARE HEALTH SERVICE DELIVERY EDUCATION QUALITY Community-driven development programs are a popular model for service delivery and socioeconomic development, especially in countries reeling from civil strife. Despite their popularity, the evidence on their impact is mixed at best. Most studies thus far are based on data collected during, or shortly after, program implementation. Community-driven development's theory of change, however, allows for a longer time frame for program exposure to produce impact. This study examines the longer term impact of a randomized community-driven development program implemented in 1,250 villages in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo between 2007 and 2012. The study team returned to these villages in 2015, eight years after the onset of the program. The study finds evidence of the physical endurance of infrastructure built by the program. However, it finds no evidence that the program had an impact on other dimensions of service provision, health, education, economic welfare, women's empowerment, governance, and social cohesion. These findings suggest that, although community-driven development programs may effectively deliver public infrastructure, longer term impacts on economic development and social transformation appear to be limited. 2020-02-06T17:41:04Z 2020-02-06T17:41:04Z 2020-01 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/548521580495457933/Assessing-the-Longer-Term-Impact-of-Community-Driven-Development-Programs-Evidence-from-a-Field-Experiment-in-the-Democratic-Republic-of-Congo http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33296 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9140 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Africa Congo, Democratic Republic of
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic COMMUNITY-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT
SERVICE DELIVERY
SOCIAL COHESION
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
FIELD EXPERIMENT
CIVIL CONFLICT
PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE
WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT
ECONOMIC WELFARE
HEALTH SERVICE DELIVERY
EDUCATION QUALITY
spellingShingle COMMUNITY-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT
SERVICE DELIVERY
SOCIAL COHESION
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
FIELD EXPERIMENT
CIVIL CONFLICT
PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE
WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT
ECONOMIC WELFARE
HEALTH SERVICE DELIVERY
EDUCATION QUALITY
Mvukiyehe, Eric
van der Windt, Peter
Assessing the Longer Term Impact of Community-Driven Development Programs : Evidence from a Field Experiment in the Democratic Republic of Congo
geographic_facet Africa
Congo, Democratic Republic of
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9140
description Community-driven development programs are a popular model for service delivery and socioeconomic development, especially in countries reeling from civil strife. Despite their popularity, the evidence on their impact is mixed at best. Most studies thus far are based on data collected during, or shortly after, program implementation. Community-driven development's theory of change, however, allows for a longer time frame for program exposure to produce impact. This study examines the longer term impact of a randomized community-driven development program implemented in 1,250 villages in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo between 2007 and 2012. The study team returned to these villages in 2015, eight years after the onset of the program. The study finds evidence of the physical endurance of infrastructure built by the program. However, it finds no evidence that the program had an impact on other dimensions of service provision, health, education, economic welfare, women's empowerment, governance, and social cohesion. These findings suggest that, although community-driven development programs may effectively deliver public infrastructure, longer term impacts on economic development and social transformation appear to be limited.
format Working Paper
author Mvukiyehe, Eric
van der Windt, Peter
author_facet Mvukiyehe, Eric
van der Windt, Peter
author_sort Mvukiyehe, Eric
title Assessing the Longer Term Impact of Community-Driven Development Programs : Evidence from a Field Experiment in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title_short Assessing the Longer Term Impact of Community-Driven Development Programs : Evidence from a Field Experiment in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title_full Assessing the Longer Term Impact of Community-Driven Development Programs : Evidence from a Field Experiment in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title_fullStr Assessing the Longer Term Impact of Community-Driven Development Programs : Evidence from a Field Experiment in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title_full_unstemmed Assessing the Longer Term Impact of Community-Driven Development Programs : Evidence from a Field Experiment in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title_sort assessing the longer term impact of community-driven development programs : evidence from a field experiment in the democratic republic of congo
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2020
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/548521580495457933/Assessing-the-Longer-Term-Impact-of-Community-Driven-Development-Programs-Evidence-from-a-Field-Experiment-in-the-Democratic-Republic-of-Congo
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33296
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