Decentralization without democracy

Increasingly, decentralization is being adopted by countries in which assumptions made by formal models of decentralization, such as electoral accountability and population mobility, fail to hold. How does decentralization affect public service delivery in such contexts? The authors exploit the part...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kosec, Katrina, Mogues, Tewodaj
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Trustees of Princeton University 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142964
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author Kosec, Katrina
Mogues, Tewodaj
author_browse Kosec, Katrina
Mogues, Tewodaj
author_facet Kosec, Katrina
Mogues, Tewodaj
author_sort Kosec, Katrina
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Increasingly, decentralization is being adopted by countries in which assumptions made by formal models of decentralization, such as electoral accountability and population mobility, fail to hold. How does decentralization affect public service delivery in such contexts? The authors exploit the partial rollout of decentralization in the autocratic context of Ethiopia and use a spatial regression discontinuity design to identify its effects. Decentralization improves delivery of productive services, specifically, agricultural services, but has no effect on social services, specifically, drinking water services. This finding is consistent with a model in which local leaders have superior information about the public investments that will deliver the greatest returns and they are incentivized by decentralization to maximize citizens’ production—on which rents depend—rather than citizens’ utility. These findings shed light on nonelectoral mechanisms through which decentralization affects public goods provision and help to explain decentralization’s mixed effects in many nondemocratic settings.
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spelling CGSpace1429642025-02-24T06:48:56Z Decentralization without democracy Kosec, Katrina Mogues, Tewodaj public investment public goods agricultural extension services democracy decentralization social services public services drinking water Increasingly, decentralization is being adopted by countries in which assumptions made by formal models of decentralization, such as electoral accountability and population mobility, fail to hold. How does decentralization affect public service delivery in such contexts? The authors exploit the partial rollout of decentralization in the autocratic context of Ethiopia and use a spatial regression discontinuity design to identify its effects. Decentralization improves delivery of productive services, specifically, agricultural services, but has no effect on social services, specifically, drinking water services. This finding is consistent with a model in which local leaders have superior information about the public investments that will deliver the greatest returns and they are incentivized by decentralization to maximize citizens’ production—on which rents depend—rather than citizens’ utility. These findings shed light on nonelectoral mechanisms through which decentralization affects public goods provision and help to explain decentralization’s mixed effects in many nondemocratic settings. 2020-04-01 2024-05-22T12:11:24Z 2024-05-22T12:11:24Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142964 en https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhz010 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055418000667 https://doi.org/10.1093/oep/gpy013 https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134228 Limited Access Trustees of Princeton University Kosec, Katrina; and Mogues, Tewodaj. 2020. Decentralization without democracy. World Politics 72(2): 165-213. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043887120000027
spellingShingle public investment
public goods
agricultural extension
services
democracy
decentralization
social services
public services
drinking water
Kosec, Katrina
Mogues, Tewodaj
Decentralization without democracy
title Decentralization without democracy
title_full Decentralization without democracy
title_fullStr Decentralization without democracy
title_full_unstemmed Decentralization without democracy
title_short Decentralization without democracy
title_sort decentralization without democracy
topic public investment
public goods
agricultural extension
services
democracy
decentralization
social services
public services
drinking water
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142964
work_keys_str_mv AT koseckatrina decentralizationwithoutdemocracy
AT moguestewodaj decentralizationwithoutdemocracy