Decentralizing supervision to attain higher productivity: the case of the ecuadorian health system

There is growing interest in developed and developing countries about how to best administer public programs in order to maximize the return on invested resources. This paper examines the extent to which decentralized supervision can help improve health worker productivity. Data on health workers in Ecuador are analyzed. The results suggest that local (or decentralized) supervision is conducive to higher productivity and more hours worked per day by Ecuador's health promoters. The implications for higher health status, and for improving health care in other developing countries are discussed.     

The Formal Divide: Customary Rights and the Allocation of Credit to Agriculture in Tanzania

It is generally held that one mechanism to enable inclusive growth in Tanzania is enabling farmers to access credit to raise productivity and incomes. The formalisation of property rights in Tanzania is being undertaken by a multiplicity of actors at great expense to donors, individuals and the government. While there have been a variety of different justifications for allocating Certificates of Customary Rights of Occupancy (CCROs) to farmers in Tanzania, perhaps the most prominent argument is that it will enable farmers to finally overcome the divide between ‘informal’ customary rights and the formal banking sector. CCROs would provide the collateral that would induce banks to lend money to small-scale farmers. As part of a six-year investigation in Manyara, Mbeya and Dodoma regions, our research team evaluated the impact of formalisation on farmers’ access to credit. The paper will present the results while pointing to the continuing institutional and market imperfections that perpetuate the formal divide.     

Perceived parental authority: Reasonable and unreasonable

A questionnaire study of 844 teenagers from four midwestern high schools focused on phenomena associated with their perceptions of which parent was the real boss and of how reasonable this boss was in dealing with the adolescent. Father was perceived to be the family authority about three times more often than was mother, although sons tended to see father as boss more often than did daughters, who tended to see mother as boss more often than did sons. Paternal and maternal authorities did not differ in perceived reasonableness. When either mother or father was perceived as a reasonable authority, the teenagers saw mother as highly involved, objective, and as enjoying life. Perception of high reasonableness in paternal authority was associated with the perception of father as involved, objective, enjoying life, and as not rigorous in his expectations for the child's compliance and achievement.