Has Uganda's Local Government Council's Scorecard Initiative enhance service delivery? This is the question asked by the authors of an article published recently in World Development.
Their findings suggest that the impacts are small and the trickle-down effects are slow.
In their article, 'Does accountability enhance service delivery? Assessment of local scorecard initiative in Uganda', Professor Wil Hout, Dr Natascha Wagner and Dr Binyam Demena examine a local government scorecard initiative that is aimed at increasing accountability in public spending and at enhancing service delivery.
Their research found that Ugandan districts that have been using the scorecards spend less of their budget compared to those districts not using the scorecards. They also found that the effects on service delivery are small though scorecard districts with more electoral competition get better results in the primary school leaving exam.
Their conclusion is therefore that reporting mechanisms about the performance of political representatives only trickle down slowly to improved local services.
Read the full article - 'Does accountability enhance service delivery? Assessment of local scorecard initiative in Uganda', World Development Vol. 158 October 2022.
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