The Experience of Brazilian States

Vinuela, Lorena; Zoratto, Laura

The Experience of Brazilian States | Do Performance Agreements Help Improve Service Delivery?

2015

Vinuela, Lorena | Zoratto, Laura

A growing number of states and municipalities in Brazil rely on results-based management, and many other local and state governments are considering adopting the practice. This paper examines the experiences of the Brazilian states that have implemented results agreements linked to variable pay. The analysis compares current with pre-intervention outcomes in the education, health, and security sectors. The changes are examined in relation to regional trends to determine whether the improvements depart in meaningful ways from the overall trend. In addition, a truncated time-series cross-section model is used to control for several additional factors influencing service delivery outcomes. The results suggest that, at least in the short and medium term, the implementation of results agreements is associated with significant and positive changes in outcomes in the security and education sectors. On average, states using team-level targets and performance-related pay have 15 fewer homicides per 100,000 inhabitants than those that do not, all else equal. Similarly, states that have introduced performance agreements and a bonus for teachers and school staff have improved their Basic Education Development Index score for public secondary schools by 0.3 additional points compared with the scores of states with similar characteristics. The conclusions are in line with the findings of in-depth impact evaluations and case study work in the education and security sectors (Bruns, Evans and Luque 2011, Milagres de Assis 2012). The paper does not analyze unit or team level data, which would be necessary to draw more rigorous conclusions about how results-based interventions affect the behavior of civil servants and outcomes over time. Therefore, the results should be interpreted with caution, as some of the assumptions behind the models cannot be examined with the available data.

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administration adoption basic education children civil society organizations communication crime data developing countries economic development economic growth gross domestic product health health care health services hospital implementation information information systems information technology institution institutions iron isolation knowledge knowledge management materials measurement monitoring mortality observation open access policies population population density primary education private sector productivity project management public administration public health public services results sanitation secondary education social welfare stress students technology training unions uses violence workforce

Bibliographic information

Publisher

World Bank, Washington, DC

Other Subjects

Intervention; Target; Search; Targets; Citizens; Secondary schools; Participatory process; Internal communication; Prevention; Policy research; Public policy; Child mortality; Quality of service; Time period; Service providers; Mortality levels; Progress; Strategy; Social programs; Child mortality rate; Pdf; Management system; Inventory; Legislators; Link; Web; Strategic priorities; Health outcomes; Performance measures; Labor force; Child mortality rates; Ministry of health; Educational attainment; Business; Family health; State governments; Set of goals; Health sector; Performance indicators; Development policy; Family health services; Management systems; Access to education; Training opportunities; Technical assistance; Domain; Internal change; Quality of education; Financial management; Policy discussions; Public service; Result; Institutional capacity; Entry point; Health care system; School year; Security services; Local governments; Innovations; Policy research working paper; Ministry of education; Service provision; Performance; Political leadership; Citizen; Service delivery; Health system; Policy; Security; Drug trafficking; Secondary school; International comparisons; Quality management; Mortality rate; Political support

Language

English

Type

Working Paper; Text; Working Paper

In AGRIS since: 2016-03-15

Format: AGRIS AP

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The Experience of Brazilian States | Do Performance Agreements Help Improve Service Delivery?

2015

AGROVOC Keywords

Bibliographic information