Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
7369713 | Journal of Public Economics | 2017 | 45 Pages |
Abstract
Distributing subsidized health products through existing health infrastructure could substantially and cost-effectively improve health in sub-Saharan Africa. There is, however, widespread concern that poor governance - in particular, limited health worker accountability - seriously undermines the effectiveness of subsidy programs. We audit targeted bed net distribution programs to quantify the extent of agency problems. We find that around 80% of the eligible receive the subsidy as intended, and up to 15% of subsidies are leaked to ineligible people. Supplementing the program with simple financial or monitoring incentives for health workers does not improve performance further and is thus not cost-effective in this context.
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Authors
Rebecca Dizon-Ross, Pascaline Dupas, Jonathan Robinson,