* This paper provides the first experimental evaluation of the participatory budgeting model show... more * This paper provides the first experimental evaluation of the participatory budgeting model showing that it increased public participation in the process of public decision making, increased local tax revenues collection, channeled larger fractions of public budgets to services stated as top priorities by citizens, and increased satisfaction levels with public services. These effects, however, were found only when the model was implemented in already-mature administratively and politically decentralized local governments. The findings highlight the importance of initial conditions with respect to the decentralization context for the success of participatory governance. JEL classifications: H11, H41, H43, H70, P35
Non-payments cycle in Russia suffocates economic growth - proposal of World Bank Economists; by B... more Non-payments cycle in Russia suffocates economic growth - proposal of World Bank Economists; by Brian Pinto, Vladimir Drebentsov, and Alexander Morozov. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and World Bank survey reveals intimate state-enterprise relationship. EBRD: after the Russian shock, sound again; with Policy Director Steven M. Fries on new priorities. Croatia confronts vicious circle of economic decline; by Marinko Skare. Russian crisis hits the Baltics harder than expected; by Iikka Korhonen. Milestones of transition; by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Overcoming the obstacles to China's infrastructure development; by Chi Fulin. How gradual was China's agricultural reform? Initial conditions, reform policies, and performance; by Karen Marcours and Johan F.M. Swinnen. The (not so) mysterious resilience of Russia's agricultural collectives; by Maria Amelina. Oxford Analytica : economic slowdown expected in Cambodi...
The law on local governance, enacted in 2006 by the Government of the Russian Federation (GoR), b... more The law on local governance, enacted in 2006 by the Government of the Russian Federation (GoR), brought about dramatic decentralization of political, administrative, and fiscal powers to rural settlements in the country. Settlements are the smallest formal self-governing units in Russia. Next up are districts or rayon's, which are agglomerations of settlements. Significantly, settlements are not administratively subordinate to districts. According to the responsibilities conferred on them by the law, settlements are now responsible for the delivery of a specific subset of local services (for example, street cleaning, waste collection), maintenance of a subset of structures and institutions on their territory (publicly owned housing fund, cemeteries, parks, settlement road repairs), intra-settlement transportation (roads and bus services), and utilities (electricity, heating, water, gas). The reform has created the potential for local participation in government decision-making. ...
The objectives of the study are to: a) increase understanding of the effects and effectiveness of... more The objectives of the study are to: a) increase understanding of the effects and effectiveness of the implementation of the local government reform launched in 2006; and b) assess the impact of a World Bank-supported intervention that aimed to enhance effectiveness of the reforms by increasing local capacity and local participation. In line with these objectives, the study assessed the perceived effects and effectiveness of the implementation of the local government reform in selected provinces. The study also constitutes a baseline to allow for on-going assessment of progress and to inform corrective policy actions. The instruments and methods created during the study may be used in future assessments of the dynamics of local governance reform. These effects are reviewed in section two. The study also carried out a rigorous evaluation of the impact of an operational intervention carried out with World Bank support in the three regions of the study. This grant-funded project was aim...
While the literature has stressed that the effect of public services decentralization on quality ... more While the literature has stressed that the effect of public services decentralization on quality of delivery and satisfaction is ambiguous, little evidence has been provided regarding the extent that the efficiency of local governments may play in enhancing a decentralization reform. To shed light on this issue, we exploit a randomized intervention directed towards enhancing local governments' efficiency in three regions of rural Russia (Adyghea, Penza and Perm) at the onset of a major decentralization reform. We find that satisfaction levels with decentralized services had a positive impact only in the region with relatively higher ex-ante decentralized and participatory experience (Penza). Moreover, we find that settlements with high pre-treatment accountability levels were differentially benefited by the intervention. Overall, our findings suggest that short-term interventions do not translate into higher satisfaction with local public services. By contrast, it appears that ...
... Leah Cohen and Diana Marginean edited and formatted the final version. ... On the one hand, p... more ... Leah Cohen and Diana Marginean edited and formatted the final version. ... On the one hand, post-socialist states have a tradition of non-targeted universal state support, arguably, creating a culture of dependency (Milanovic 1995). ...
... Leah Cohen and Diana Marginean edited and formatted the final version. ... On the one hand, p... more ... Leah Cohen and Diana Marginean edited and formatted the final version. ... On the one hand, post-socialist states have a tradition of non-targeted universal state support, arguably, creating a culture of dependency (Milanovic 1995). ...
* This paper provides the first experimental evaluation of the participatory budgeting model show... more * This paper provides the first experimental evaluation of the participatory budgeting model showing that it increased public participation in the process of public decision making, increased local tax revenues collection, channeled larger fractions of public budgets to services stated as top priorities by citizens, and increased satisfaction levels with public services. These effects, however, were found only when the model was implemented in already-mature administratively and politically decentralized local governments. The findings highlight the importance of initial conditions with respect to the decentralization context for the success of participatory governance. JEL classifications: H11, H41, H43, H70, P35
Non-payments cycle in Russia suffocates economic growth - proposal of World Bank Economists; by B... more Non-payments cycle in Russia suffocates economic growth - proposal of World Bank Economists; by Brian Pinto, Vladimir Drebentsov, and Alexander Morozov. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and World Bank survey reveals intimate state-enterprise relationship. EBRD: after the Russian shock, sound again; with Policy Director Steven M. Fries on new priorities. Croatia confronts vicious circle of economic decline; by Marinko Skare. Russian crisis hits the Baltics harder than expected; by Iikka Korhonen. Milestones of transition; by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Overcoming the obstacles to China's infrastructure development; by Chi Fulin. How gradual was China's agricultural reform? Initial conditions, reform policies, and performance; by Karen Marcours and Johan F.M. Swinnen. The (not so) mysterious resilience of Russia's agricultural collectives; by Maria Amelina. Oxford Analytica : economic slowdown expected in Cambodi...
The law on local governance, enacted in 2006 by the Government of the Russian Federation (GoR), b... more The law on local governance, enacted in 2006 by the Government of the Russian Federation (GoR), brought about dramatic decentralization of political, administrative, and fiscal powers to rural settlements in the country. Settlements are the smallest formal self-governing units in Russia. Next up are districts or rayon's, which are agglomerations of settlements. Significantly, settlements are not administratively subordinate to districts. According to the responsibilities conferred on them by the law, settlements are now responsible for the delivery of a specific subset of local services (for example, street cleaning, waste collection), maintenance of a subset of structures and institutions on their territory (publicly owned housing fund, cemeteries, parks, settlement road repairs), intra-settlement transportation (roads and bus services), and utilities (electricity, heating, water, gas). The reform has created the potential for local participation in government decision-making. ...
The objectives of the study are to: a) increase understanding of the effects and effectiveness of... more The objectives of the study are to: a) increase understanding of the effects and effectiveness of the implementation of the local government reform launched in 2006; and b) assess the impact of a World Bank-supported intervention that aimed to enhance effectiveness of the reforms by increasing local capacity and local participation. In line with these objectives, the study assessed the perceived effects and effectiveness of the implementation of the local government reform in selected provinces. The study also constitutes a baseline to allow for on-going assessment of progress and to inform corrective policy actions. The instruments and methods created during the study may be used in future assessments of the dynamics of local governance reform. These effects are reviewed in section two. The study also carried out a rigorous evaluation of the impact of an operational intervention carried out with World Bank support in the three regions of the study. This grant-funded project was aim...
While the literature has stressed that the effect of public services decentralization on quality ... more While the literature has stressed that the effect of public services decentralization on quality of delivery and satisfaction is ambiguous, little evidence has been provided regarding the extent that the efficiency of local governments may play in enhancing a decentralization reform. To shed light on this issue, we exploit a randomized intervention directed towards enhancing local governments' efficiency in three regions of rural Russia (Adyghea, Penza and Perm) at the onset of a major decentralization reform. We find that satisfaction levels with decentralized services had a positive impact only in the region with relatively higher ex-ante decentralized and participatory experience (Penza). Moreover, we find that settlements with high pre-treatment accountability levels were differentially benefited by the intervention. Overall, our findings suggest that short-term interventions do not translate into higher satisfaction with local public services. By contrast, it appears that ...
... Leah Cohen and Diana Marginean edited and formatted the final version. ... On the one hand, p... more ... Leah Cohen and Diana Marginean edited and formatted the final version. ... On the one hand, post-socialist states have a tradition of non-targeted universal state support, arguably, creating a culture of dependency (Milanovic 1995). ...
... Leah Cohen and Diana Marginean edited and formatted the final version. ... On the one hand, p... more ... Leah Cohen and Diana Marginean edited and formatted the final version. ... On the one hand, post-socialist states have a tradition of non-targeted universal state support, arguably, creating a culture of dependency (Milanovic 1995). ...
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