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Service Delivery and Corruption in Public Services: How Does History Matter?

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  • Priyanka Pandey

Abstract

This paper provides microlevel evidence of how past institutions impact present economic outcomes. It looks at the impact of colonial land tenure institutions on local governance and education outcomes in northern India. Outcomes are worse in villages that belong to areas with a history of concentration of power with the elites. Such areas continue to retain a greater political presence of socially and economically dominant classes. Future research should examine the success of policies that attempt to break such persistence through empowerment of nonelite groups. (JEL D02, H70, I20, N35, N45, O15, O18)

Suggested Citation

  • Priyanka Pandey, 2010. "Service Delivery and Corruption in Public Services: How Does History Matter?," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 190-204, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:2:y:2010:i:3:p:190-204
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/app.2.3.190
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nazmul Chaudhury & Jeffrey Hammer & Michael Kremer & Karthik Muralidharan & F. Halsey Rogers, 2006. "Missing in Action: Teacher and Health Worker Absence in Developing Countries," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 91-116, Winter.
    2. Abhijit Banerjee & Lakshmi Iyer, 2005. "History, Institutions, and Economic Performance: The Legacy of Colonial Land Tenure Systems in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 1190-1213, September.
    3. Hoff, Karla & Pandey, Priyanka, 2004. "Belief systems and durable inequalities : an experimental investigation of Indian caste," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3351, The World Bank.
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    Cited by:

    1. Priyaranjan Jha & Karan Talathi, 2021. "Impact of Colonial Institutions on Economic Growth and Development in India: Evidence from Night Lights Data," Working Papers 202102, University of California-Irvine, Department of Economics.
    2. Gans-Morse, Jordan & Borges, Mariana & Makarin, Alexey & Mannah-Blankson, Theresa & Nickow, Andre & Zhang, Dong, 2018. "Reducing bureaucratic corruption: Interdisciplinary perspectives on what works," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 171-188.
    3. repec:unu:wpaper:wp2012-97 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Hoff, Karla & Pandey, Priyanka, 2012. "Making up people -- the effect of identity on preferences and performance in a modernizing society," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6223, The World Bank.
    5. Eugen Dimant & Guglielmo Tosato, 2018. "Causes And Effects Of Corruption: What Has Past Decade'S Empirical Research Taught Us? A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 335-356, April.
    6. Jetter, Michael & Parmeter, Christopher F., 2018. "Sorting through global corruption determinants: Institutions and education matter – Not culture," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 279-294.
    7. Hoff, Karla & Pandey, Priyanka, 2014. "Making up people—The effect of identity on performance in a modernizing society," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 118-131.
    8. Dilip Mookherjee & Pranab K. Bardhan, 2012. "Political Clientelism and Capture: Theory and Evidence from West Bengal, India," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2012-097, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Dilip Mookherjee, 2014. "Accountability of local and state governments in India: an overview of recent research," Indian Growth and Development Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 7(1), pages 12-41, April.
    10. Mookherjee, Dilip & Bardhan, Pranab K., 2012. "Political Clientelism and Capture: Theory and Evidence from West Bengal, India," WIDER Working Paper Series 097, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. Khemani,Stuti & Chaudhary,Sarang & Scot,Thiago, 2020. "Strengthening Public Health Systems : Policy Ideas from a Governance Perspective," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9220, The World Bank.
    12. Pranab Bardhan & Dilip Mookherjee, 2023. "Political clientelism and capture: theory and an application," Indian Economic Review, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 17-34, July.
    13. Vendrell-Herrero, Ferran & Darko, Christian & Vaillant, Yancy, 2022. "Firm productivity and government contracts: The moderating role of corruption," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    14. Guo, Jingyuan & Deng, Kent, 2024. "Laying off old guards to rebuild state capacity: Deng Xiaoping’s bloodless coup d’etat in post-Mao China, 1980-2000," Economic History Working Papers 126083, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    15. Michael Jetter & Christopher F. Parmeter, 2016. "Uncovering the determinants of corruption," Working Papers 2016-02, University of Miami, Department of Economics.
    16. Caesar Marga Putri & Josep Maria Argilés-Bosch & Diego Ravenda, 2023. "Thirty Years of Village Corruption Research: Accounting and Smart Villages for Village Sustainability as Future Research Direction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-19, June.
    17. David B. Audretsch & Maksim Belitski & Farzana Chowdhury & Sameeksha Desai, 2022. "Necessity or opportunity? Government size, tax policy, corruption, and implications for entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 2025-2042, April.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
    • H70 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - General
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • N35 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Asia including Middle East
    • N45 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Asia including Middle East
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure

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    This item is featured on the following reading lists, Wikipedia, or ReplicationWiki pages:
    1. Service Delivery and Corruption in Public Services: How Does History Matter? (American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 2010) in ReplicationWiki

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