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The Added Value of Local Democracy: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in India

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dc.contributor.authorArora, Abhishek
dc.contributor.authorGeorge, Siddharth
dc.contributor.authorRao, Vijayendra
dc.contributor.authorSharan, MR
dc.date.accessioned2023-08-30T17:37:54Z
dc.date.available2023-08-30T17:37:54Z
dc.date.issued2023-08-30
dc.description.abstractGovernments across the world have increasingly devolved powers to locally elected leaders. This paper studies the consequences of local democracy, exploiting a natural experiment in Karnataka, India. Local elections were postponed in 2020, resulting in appointed administrators taking over governance in villages whose elected leaders completed their terms that year. This created quasi-random variation in the governance regime across villages. The paper brings together a rich set of administrative datasets—budgetary allocations from the universe of 6,000 villages, more than a million public works projects, local bureaucratic attendance, welfare benefits, and a primary survey of more than 11,810 households—to estimate the impacts of local democracy. The findings show that local democracy aligns spending more closely with citizen preferences, but these gains accrue more to men, upper castes, and other advantaged social groups. Elected leaders are more responsive to citizen needs and cause local bureaucrats to exert more effort. However, appointed administrators perform better on aspects of governance that are aligned with their specialized skills. Local democracy improves governance in some domains, but it has no overall impact on economic outcomes or effectiveness of COVID-19 management.en
dc.identifierhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099254008252327013/IDU067b7438e0080b047770b8d30051dbf7e7f1d
dc.identifier.doi10.1596/1813-9450-10555
dc.identifier.urihttps://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/40300
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherWorld Bank, Washington, DC
dc.relation.ispartofseriesPolicy Research Working Papers; 10555
dc.rightsCC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holderWorld Bank
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/
dc.titleThe Added Value of Local Democracyen
dc.title.subtitleEvidence from a Natural Experiment in Indiaen
dc.typeWorking Paper
dspace.entity.typePublication
okr.crossref.titleThe Added Value of Local Democracy: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in India
okr.date.disclosure2023-08-25
okr.date.lastmodified2023-08-25T00:00:00Zen
okr.doctypePolicy Research Working Paper
okr.doctypePublications & Research
okr.docurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099254008252327013/IDU067b7438e0080b047770b8d30051dbf7e7f1d
okr.guid099254008252327013
okr.identifier.docmidIDU-67b7438e-080b-4777-b8d3-051dbf7e7f1d
okr.identifier.doi10.1596/1813-9450-10555
okr.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-10555
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum34150502
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum34150502
okr.identifier.reportWPS10555
okr.import.id1655
okr.importedtrueen
okr.language.supporteden
okr.pdfurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099254008252327013/pdf/IDU067b7438e0080b047770b8d30051dbf7e7f1d.pdfen
okr.region.administrativeSouth Asia
okr.region.countryIndia
okr.topicGovernance::Local Government
okr.topicGovernance::Political Systems and Analysis
okr.topicSocial Development::Participations and Civic Engagement
okr.unitDECRG: Poverty & Inequality (DECPI)
relation.isAuthorOfPublication385fa299-94e8-5dcc-a817-90cf574a0ae2
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery385fa299-94e8-5dcc-a817-90cf574a0ae2
relation.isSeriesOfPublication26e071dc-b0bf-409c-b982-df2970295c87
relation.isSeriesOfPublication.latestForDiscovery26e071dc-b0bf-409c-b982-df2970295c87
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