Title:
A study of the impact of decentralization on access to service delivery

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dc.contributor.advisor Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge
dc.contributor.author Saavedra, Pablo A. en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMember Roy Bahl
dc.contributor.committeeMember Gregory Lewis
dc.contributor.committeeMember Jameson Boex
dc.contributor.committeeMember Marco Castillo
dc.contributor.department Public Policy en_US
dc.date.accessioned 2011-03-04T21:02:44Z
dc.date.available 2011-03-04T21:02:44Z
dc.date.issued 2009-11-10 en_US
dc.description.abstract This research builds further on the existing conceptual framework of the relationship between decentralization and service delivery and provides a cross-country empirical examination of the core dimensions of decentralization reform on access to two key services: health care and improved drinking water sources. The regression results provide evidence supporting positive and significant effects of fiscal, administrative, and political decentralization, individually, on the variables used to measure access to health care, and improved water provision; although the size and robustness of such effects varies for each dimension of decentralization in relation to each service examined. The results obtained in this study suggest that there is an additional (or "extra") positive effect coming from the interaction of two decentralization dimensions on access to health care and water services (that is, a mutually-reinforcing effect additional to the individual effect of each dimension of decentralization). The results obtained also support the expectation that developing countries could benefit significantly more from decentralization reforms compared to developed countries. These findings underscore the importance of considering all dimensions of the decentralization process when investigating the effects of this reform on any economic, institutional, or social variable. The policy implications are highly relevant, particularly for developing countries: decentralization implemented only through one dimension may render fewer positive fruits in terms of access to services than a multi-dimensional approach. Moreover, learning more about the most beneficial mutually-reinforcing effects across dimensions of decentralization may also help strategically in how the overall decentralization reform is designed. en_US
dc.description.degree Ph.D. en_US
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/1853/37265
dc.publisher Georgia Institute of Technology en_US
dc.subject Decentralization en_US
dc.subject.lcsh Decentralization in government
dc.subject.lcsh Medical care
dc.subject.lcsh Water-supply
dc.subject.lcsh Developing countries
dc.title A study of the impact of decentralization on access to service delivery en_US
dc.type Text
dc.type.genre Dissertation
dspace.entity.type Publication
local.contributor.corporatename School of Public Policy
local.contributor.corporatename Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication a3789037-aec2-41bb-9888-1a95104b7f8c
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication b1049ff1-5166-442c-9e14-ad804b064e38
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