Cited by 739Global Maternal and Child HealthHealthcare Systems and ReformsPoverty, Education, and Child Welfare

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Power to the People: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment on Community-Based Monitoring in Uganda*

Björkman, Martina, Svensson, Jakob·2009·Quarterly Journal of Economics

DOI 10.1162/qjec.2009.124.2.735

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Abstract

This paper presents a randomized field experiment on community-based monitoring of public primary health care providers in Uganda. Through two rounds of village meetings, localized nongovernmental organizations encouraged communities to be more involved with the state of health service provision and strengthened their capacity to hold their local health providers to account for performance. A year after the intervention, treatment communities are more involved in monitoring the provider, and the health workers appear to exert higher effort to serve the community. We document large increases in utilization and improved health outcomes—reduced child mortality and increased child weight—that compare favorably to some of the more successful community-based intervention trials reported in the medical literature.

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“…India; right to information on public works and public hearings or jan sunwais in Rajasthan, India; public information campaign to reduce capture of school funds in Uganda; and community scorecards in Malawi (see Reinikka and Svensson, 2004; World Bank, 2003; Paul, 2002; and Singh and Shah, 2002).”
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Authors: Björkman, M., & Svensson, J.
Affiliations: Centre for Economic Policy Research (GB)
Center for Economic and Policy Research (US)
ORCID: Svensson, Jakob
Venue: Quarterly Journal of Economics
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published: 2009-05
Volume: 124
Issue: 2
Pages: 735-769
ISSN: 0033-5533 (ISSN-L)
1531-4650
DOI: 10.1162/qjec.2009.124.2.735
OpenAlex: W3123010330
Cited by: 739
References: 48
Citations by year: 2026: 32 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 61 · 2021: 66 · 2020: 47 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 41 · 2017: 53 · 2016: 50 · 2015: 52 · 2014: 64 · 2013: 54 · 2012: 36
FWCI: 26.07
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: The Quarterly Journal of Economics (publishedVersion)
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Archivio istituzionale della Ricerca - Bocconi (submittedVersion)
Topics: Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Global Maternal and Child Health
Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Healthcare Systems and Reforms
Social Sciences › Development › Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare
Keywords: community-based monitoring, primary care, community participation, village meetings, non-governmental organizations, health care utilization, child mortality, child weight

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Power to the People: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment on Community-Based Monitoring in Uganda*

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