Does Decentralization Facilitate Access to Poverty-Related Services? Evidence from Benin

Emilie Caldeira, Martial Foucault () and Grégoire Rota-Graziosi
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Grégoire ROTA GRAZIOSI

No 18118, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We study the effect of decentralization on the access to some poverty-related public services in Benin. Compiling panel data from local governments' accounts and from surveys on 18,000 Beninese households performed in 2006 and 2007, our study suggests that decentralization has a positive overall effect on access to basic services. However, this effect appears to be nonmonotone following an inverted U-shaped curve. It varies according to local jurisdictions' wealth and to the nature of basic services. Decentralization in Benin contributes positively to the reduction of poverty by improving the average access to poverty-related services. However, the devil is in the details, as decentralization seems to increase inequality among local governments in terms of access. Another result relying on the success of decentralization in Benin is the prioritization of basic services, which differs among local governments according to their wealth. While the poorest jurisdictions neglect primary education, focusing more on access to drinking water, the richest ones get less attention to sewage services, since these are already provided at a sufficiently high level.

JEL-codes: D73 H41 H42 H52 H77 I38 O17 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-pbe and nep-ure
Note: PE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

Published as Does Decentralization Facilitate Access to Poverty-Related Services? Evidence from Benin , Emilie Caldeira, Martial Foucault, Grégoire Rota-Graziosi. in African Successes, Volume I: Government and Institutions , Edwards, Johnson, and Weil. 2016

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Chapter: Does Decentralization Facilitate Access to Poverty-Related Services? Evidence from Benin (2014)
Working Paper: Does Decentralization Facilitate Access to Poverty-Related Services? Evidence from Benin? (2012)
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