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Journal of African Economies 2007 16(Supplement 1):127-156; doi:10.1093/jae/ejm026
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© The author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Centre for the Study of African Economies. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Reforming Public Service Delivery1

Timothy Besley* and Maitreesh Ghatak

London School of Economics, London WC2A 2AE, UK

* Corresponding author: Timothy Besley, London School of Economics London WC2A 2AE, UK. e-mail: t.besley{at}lse.ac.uk

This paper reviews some issues relevant to the delivery of public services. It reviews some of the debates and flags some issues that are significant worldwide, especially in Africa. It emphasises how the debate has moved along in terms of defining the relative responsibilities of the public and private sectors for delivering public services. It also discusses the role of incentives among politicians and bureaucrats in service delivery. In a broader context, there is a need to understand the role of mission-driven delivery and the role of competition in public services. The paper argues for a focus on accountability in part through rigorous evaluation of service delivery and basing policy on sound first-principles.

JEL classification: H4, P16, O55

1 This paper was prepared for a plenary session on services in Africa for an AERC meeting held in Johannesburg on 4 December 2005.


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