Decentralization’s effects on educational outcomes in Bolivia and Colombia

Jean-Paul Faguet and Fabio Sanchez Torres

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: The effects of decentralization on public sector outputs is much debated but little agreed upon. This paper compares the remarkable case of Bolivia with the more complex case of Colombia to explore decentralization’s effects on public education outcomes. In Colombia, decentralization of education finance improved enrollment rates in public schools. In Bolivia, decentralization made government more responsive by re-directing public investment to areas of greatest need. In both countries, investment shifted from infrastructure to primary social services. In both, it was the behavior of smaller, poorer, more rural municipalities that drove these changes.

Keywords: decentralization; education; public investment; Bolivia; Colombia; local government (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 46 pages
Date: 2006-03
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/2397/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Decentralization's Effects on Educational Outcomes in Bolivia and Colombia (2008)
Working Paper: DECENTRALIZATION’S EFFECTS ON EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES IN BOLIVIA AND COLOMBIA (2006)
Working Paper: DECENTRALIZATION´S EFFECTS ON EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES IN BOLIVIA AND COLOMBIA (2006)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:2397

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library LSE Library Portugal Street London, WC2A 2HD, U.K.. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by LSERO Manager ().