Publication: Do Performance Agreements Help Improve Service Delivery?: The Experience of Brazilian States
Date
2015-07
ISSN
Published
2015-07
Author(s)
Abstract
A growing number of states and
municipalities in Brazil rely on results-based management,
and many other local and state governments are considering
adopting the practice. This paper examines the experiences
of the Brazilian states that have implemented results
agreements linked to variable pay. The analysis compares
current with pre-intervention outcomes in the education,
health, and security sectors. The changes are examined in
relation to regional trends to determine whether the
improvements depart in meaningful ways from the overall
trend. In addition, a truncated time-series cross-section
model is used to control for several additional factors
influencing service delivery outcomes. The results suggest
that, at least in the short and medium term, the
implementation of results agreements is associated with
significant and positive changes in outcomes in the security
and education sectors. On average, states using team-level
targets and performance-related pay have 15 fewer homicides
per 100,000 inhabitants than those that do not, all else
equal. Similarly, states that have introduced performance
agreements and a bonus for teachers and school staff have
improved their Basic Education Development Index score for
public secondary schools by 0.3 additional points compared
with the scores of states with similar characteristics. The
conclusions are in line with the findings of in-depth impact
evaluations and case study work in the education and
security sectors (Bruns, Evans and Luque 2011, Milagres de
Assis 2012). The paper does not analyze unit or team level
data, which would be necessary to draw more rigorous
conclusions about how results-based interventions affect the
behavior of civil servants and outcomes over time.
Therefore, the results should be interpreted with caution,
as some of the assumptions behind the models cannot be
examined with the available data.
Citation
“Vinuela, Lorena; Zoratto, Laura. 2015. Do Performance Agreements Help Improve Service Delivery? : The Experience of Brazilian States. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7375. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/22459 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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