Shirking of front-line government agents can bear important welfare consequences in low-income countries. When effort or output cannot be monitored, motivating agents through contingent rewards is of limited use. We investigate whether enhancing agent’s competence at a task yields higher...

The author reviews trends in rural electrification over the past 30 years in Sub-Saharan Africa. In particular, it is shown that motivations for rural electrification programs have evolved significantly over the years, following changes in development paradigms. The author finds, however, that...