Lundberg, MattiasLall, Somik V.2012-06-152012-06-152006-05https://hdl.handle.net/10986/8180The availability and quality of basic public services are important determinants of urban quality of life. In many cities, rapid population growth and fiscal constraints are limiting the extent to which urban governments can keep up with increasing demand for these services. It therefore becomes important to prioritize provision of those services to best reflect local demand. The authors present a strategy to estimate the demand for public services, which is sensitive to heterogeneity in preferences across types of households, and the nonparametric estimation addresses problems arising from functional form restrictions. Using data from Pune, India, they estimate the demand for public services, as represented by the marginal change in the self-assessed monthly rental price of dwellings from the services. The authors find that the value of publicly provided services accruing to the poor is greater than that going to wealthier households, and even untargeted across-the-board investment in specific services can be progressive.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCOUNTABILITYADMINISTRATIVE DECENTRALIZATIONAIR POLLUTIONCITIESCOMMUNITIESCRIMEDEVOLUTIONDISCOUNT RATEDISTRICTSDURABLE GOODSDWELLINGDWELLINGSECONOMIC RESEARCHELASTICITYEXTERNALITIESFISCAL CAPACITYFUNCTIONAL FORMSHOSPITALSHOUSE PRICESHOUSEHOLDSHOUSESHOUSINGHOUSING DEMANDHOUSING DENSITYHOUSING ECONOMICSHOUSING MARKETHOUSING PRICESINCOMEINCOME DISTRIBUTIONINSTITUTIONAL CONSTRAINTSINTEREST RATESLAND USELAND USE POLICIESLOCAL AUTHORITIESLOCAL GOVERNMENTLOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCELOCAL GOVERNMENT TAXATIONLOCAL GOVERNMENTSLOCAL TAXESMUNICIPALMUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTPOLITICAL DECENTRALIZATIONPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOSITIVE EXTERNALITIESPRICING MODELSPROPERTY TAXESPROPERTY VALUESPROVISIONSPUBLICPUBLIC EXPENDITURESPUBLIC GOODPUBLIC GOODSPUBLIC INFORMATIONPUBLIC SECTORPUBLIC SERVICEPUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERYPUBLIC SERVICE EXPENDITURESPUBLIC SERVICE PROVISIONPUBLIC TRANSPORTPURCHASE PRICERENTAL VALUE OF PROPERTYRENTSROAD SAFETYROADSSAFETYSETTLEMENTSSLUMSSOLID WASTE MANAGEMENTTAXTAX RATESTAXATIONTRANSACTIONS COSTSURBAN GOVERNMENTSURBAN POORURBAN PUBLIC SERVICESURBAN RENEWALURBANIZATIONUTILITY FUNCTIONUTILITY MAXIMIZATIONVALUATIONVALUE ADDEDWATER SUPPLYWEALTHZONINGWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-3924