Mansuri, GhazalaRao, Vijayendra2013-07-012013-07-012004-02https://hdl.handle.net/10986/14310Community-based (and driven) development (CBD/CDD) projects have become an important form of development assistance, with the World Bank's portfolio alone approximating 7 billion dollars. The authors review the conceptual foundations of CBD/CDD initiatives. Given the importance of the topic, there are, unfortunately, a dearth of well-designed evaluations of such projects. But there is enough quantitative and qualitative evidence from studies that have either been published in peer-reviewed publications or have been conducted by independent researchers to glean some instructive lessons. The authors find that projects that rely on community participation have not been particularly effective at targeting the poor. There is some evidence that CBD/CDD projects create effective community infrastructure, but not a single study establishes a causal relationship between any outcome and participatory elements of a CBD project. Most CBD projects are dominated by elites and, in general, the targeting of poor communities as well as project quality tend to be markedly worse in more unequal communities. However, a number of studies find a U-shaped relationship between inequality and project outcomes. The authors also find that a distinction between potentially "benevolent" forms of elite domination and more pernicious types of "capture" is likely to be important for understanding project dynamics and outcomes. Several qualitative studies indicate that the sustainability of CBD initiatives depends crucially on an enabling institutional environment, which requires upward commitment. Equally, the literature indicates that community leaders need to be downwardly accountable to avoid a variant of "supply-driven demand-driven development." Qualitative evidence also suggests that external agents strongly influence project success. However, facilitators are often poorly trained and inexperienced, particularly when programs are rapidly scaled up. Overall, a naive application of complex contextual concepts like "participation," "social capital," and "empowerment" is endemic among project implementers and contributes to poor design and implementation. In sum, the evidence suggests that CBD/CDD is best done in a context-specific manner, with a long time-horizon, and with careful and well-designed monitoring and evaluation systems.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOCOMMUNITY BASED DEVELOPMENTCOMMUNITY EMPOWERMENTCOMMUNITY PARTICIPATIONPOOR COMMUNITIESCOMMUNITY LEADERSSOCIAL CAPITALPOVERTY MITIGATION AIDANTIPOVERTY PROGRAMANTIPOVERTY PROGRAMSBENEFICIARIESCAPACITY BUILDINGCASE STUDIESCASE STUDYCENSUS DATACLINICSCOMMON PROPERTY RESOURCESCOMMUNITIESCOMMUNITYCOMMUNITY CAPACITYCOMMUNITY DEMANDCOMMUNITY GROUPSCOMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURECOMMUNITY INVOLVEMENTCOMMUNITY LEADERSCOMMUNITY LEVELCOMMUNITY MEMBERSCOMMUNITY PARTICIPATIONCOMMUNITY SUPPORTCORRUPTIONDECISIONMAKINGDEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIESDEVELOPMENT AGENCIESDEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCEDEVELOPMENT FUNDSDEVELOPMENT INSTITUTIONSDEVELOPMENT ISSUESDEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONSDEVELOPMENT POLICYDEVELOPMENT PRACTICEDEVELOPMENT PRACTITIONERSDEVELOPMENT PROGRAMSDEVELOPMENT PROJECTSDEVELOPMENT RESEARCHECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMICSECONOMISTSELIGIBILITY CRITERIAEMPOWERMENTENABLING ENVIRONMENTEXPENDITURESFACILITATORSFOOD POLICY RESEARCHGAPSGEOGRAPHIC SPREADGEOGRAPHIC TARGETINGGROUP DISCUSSIONSHUMAN CAPITALIMPLEMENTATION AGENCIESINFORMATION PROBLEMSINSTITUTION BUILDINGINSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENTINTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTLOCAL GOVERNMENTSLOCAL INEQUALITYLOCAL INSTITUTIONSLOCAL LEVELLOCAL MANAGEMENTLOCAL OFFICIALSMARGINALIZED GROUPSMATERIAL WELL-BEINGMODERNIZATIONMONITORING TOOLSNEIGHBORHOODNEIGHBORHOODSNONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONSNUTRITIONPARTICIPANT OBSERVATIONPARTICIPATORY APPROACHESPARTICIPATORY PLANNINGPARTICIPATORY PLANNING EXERCISESPARTICIPATORY PROJECTSPARTICIPATORY STRATEGIESPOLICY RESEARCHPOLITICAL CONTEXTPOOL RESOURCESPOOR AREASPOOR COMMUNITIESPOOR HOUSEHOLDSPOOR PEOPLEPOVERTY IMPACTSPOVERTY REDUCTIONPOVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGYPOVERTY TARGETINGPRIMARY SCHOOLPRIORITIESPROGRAM IMPLEMENTATIONPROJECT BENEFICIARIESPROJECT IMPLEMENTATIONPROJECT MONITORINGPUBLIC SECTORPUBLIC SERVICESRESEARCH INSTITUTERURAL AREASRURAL POORSELECTION BIASSERVICE DELIVERYSOCIAL ASSISTANCESOCIAL CAPITALSOCIAL DEVELOPMENTSOCIAL FUNDSSOCIAL INVESTMENT FUNDSSOCIAL NETWORKSSOCIAL RELATIONSHIPSSOCIAL SCIENTISTSSUSTAINABILITYTARGETING PERFORMANCEWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-3209