Making Reform Work: Institutions, Dispositions, and the Improving Health of Bangladesh

Abstract

We examine whether local governance can improve social development empirically, using good and bad cases of public health outcomes in Bangladesh. We explore the institutional underpinnings of service provision, digging down beneath the "rules of the game" to analyze the beliefs, understandings and dispositions that drive social behavior.Changes in deep social attitudes led to improvements in social indicators. Regional variation in health outcomes is explained by the presence or absence of a dense web of relationships that enmeshed reformers in local systems of authority and legitimacy, strengthening their actions and making local society more susceptible to change.

Transformation from Below in Bangladesh: Decentralization, local governance, and systemic change

“…These reforms decentralized power and resources from central government to division, district, sub-district, and union levels, bringing forth a new era of decentralized government. In so doing, they took government "closer to the people", and opened many new spaces for Bangladesh's vibrant civil society to participate in local decision-making (Faguet and Ali 2009). It is nonetheless important to note that decentralization in Bangladesh falls short of the standard set in other countries, such as India, Colombia and Bolivia, in terms of both the quantity of resources, and the scope of public authority devolved.…”

Area-Based Competitions and Awards as a Motivational Tool for Public Service Provision

“…Faguet and Ali's (2009) findings from Bangladesh support the importance of voice and exit in making local government responsive Channa and Faguet's (2012). survey of international experiments in decentralization provides evidence on the importance of electoral exit as a tool for motivating public officials.…”

Improving Basic Services for the Bottom Forty Percent: Lessons from Ethiopia

“…In other low-income countries, decentralized expenditure has been shown to improve health outcomes (Faguet and Ali 2009). Does this hold in Ethiopia?…”