International comparisons of public service reform

Optimal delivery of welfare-to-work services: public, private and third sector organisations around the world (Paul Gregg)

There is considerable experimentation taking place around the world to establish the best models for delivering welfare-to-work services. These have assumed an important role in public policy in many countries. There are central CMPO issues involved here, including organizational form and incentive structures, contracting between the state and the delivery agencies (be they in the public, private or third sector), and competition between agencies. Countries involved in such experiments include Australia, the US, the UK and other European countries. We hope to exploit micro datasets from these countries to control for individual differences, and isolate structural elements associated with delivery success.

Evaluation of public service reform in Asia and Africa (Sonia Bhalotra)

The fundamental issues in public organisation and public service reform transcend national boundaries. The same issues are present in developing countries, and in many cases delivery failure bites deeper. There is a systematic failure of public services to reach the poor in Asia and Africa which does not appear to have been altered by rapid growth in Asia. Incomplete information and weak performance incentives are thought to be an important cause of their failure. Many South Asian governments have awarded to public service clients the ability to monitor and disciplines service providers. One approach, used to improve girls’ schooling in Bangladesh and facilitate midwifery in Indonesia, is to offer vouchers to citizens who can then express their preferences over providers., another is to increase community oversight, for example, of infrastructure projects in Indonesia and of public schools in Nepal. While the merits of this “mandated empowerment” of the poor are a subject of current debate, there is not enough evaluation. Using a mix of micro-data sets, we will seek to understand the potential of these initiatives to address the enormous deficits in health and education in poor countries.

Healthcare reform, institutional and market setting in an international context (Carol Propper)

The UK has introduced wide-ranging reforms to health care over the recent past. Other countries have also been reforming their health care systems. A lot can be learnt by comparing the outcomes of similar reforms in different settings, and comparing different reforms in similar settings. The uniqueness of the NHS makes the former route more likely. Again the approach will be a detailed econometric study of outcomes in one or two countries, rather than an overview analysis of many countries. We have excellent links with other European health care researchers, and aim to deepen these considerably in the course of this research.