Pitfalls of Participatory Programs: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in Education in India

• DOI: 10.1257/pol.2.1.1
• Publication Date: 2010-02-02T17:56:12Z
• Authors: Abhijit V Banerjee; Rukmini Banerji; Esther Duflo; Rachel Glennerster; Stuti Khemani
• Keywords: 330; Income Distribution; Human Development; 370; India; Primary Education,Education For All,Teaching and Learning,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Tertiary Education,Economics of Education; jel:I21; Education: Government Policy I280; Education; Participatory monitoring and evaluation (Project management); 0502 economics and business; India [L13]; jel:I28; National Government Expenditures and Education H520; Government Policy I280 [Education]; 10. No inequality; Human Resources [Economic Development]; Migration O150; 4. Education; 05 social sciences; 1. No poverty; Education and Research [T22]; jel:H52; 16. Peace & justice; community participation; development economics; educational economics; jel:O12; Economic Development: Human Resources; jel:O15; School improvement programs; Analysis of Education I210

Participation of beneficiaries in the monitoring of public services is increasingly seen as a key to improving their quality. We conducted a randomized evaluation of three interventions to encourage beneficiaries' participation to India: providing information on existing institutions, training community members in a testing tool for children, and training volunteers to hold remedial reading camps. These interventions had no impact on community involvement, teacher effort, or learning outcomes inside the school. However, in the third intervention, youth volunteered to teach camps, and children who attended substantially improved their reading skills. This suggests that citizens face constraints in influencing public services. (JEL H52, I21, I28, O15)