This paper examines decentralisation in Bolivia and Colombia to explore its effects on the uses and spatial distribution of public investment, as well as government responsiveness to local needs. In both countries, investment shifted from infrastructure to social services and human capital...

The effects of decentralization on a number of important policy goals is much debated but little agreed upon. This paper examines the cases of Bolivia and Colombia to explore decentralization's effects on government responsiveness and poverty-orientation. In Bolivia, decentralization made...

Bolivia's 1994 decentralization led to changes in the geographic allocation of funds and to the development of innovative institutions of local governance. The changes in the sectoral (and geographic) allocations of public funds show a strong relationship with objective indicators of social...

We explore the effects of decentralization on education and health in Ethiopia using an original database covering all of the country’s regions and woredas (local governments). Ethiopia is a remarkable case in which war, famine and chaos in the 1970s-80s were followed by federalization,...

We explore the effects of decentralization on education and health in Ethiopia using an original database covering all of the country’s regions and woredas (local governments). Ethiopia is a remarkable case in which war, famine and chaos in the 1970s-80s were followed by federalization,...