When Is Community-Based Monitoring Effective? Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Primary Health in Uganda

Evidence from recent randomized field experiments on community-based monitoring reveals substantial heterogeneous treatment effects. Using data from a randomized experiment in primary health in Uganda, we tested whether social heterogeneity can explain why some communities managed to push for better health service delivery, whereas others did not. The results suggest that income inequality, and particularly ethnic fractionalization, adversely impact collective action for improved service provision. (JEL: H41, I19, O15) (c) 2010 by the European Economic Association.