Pitfalls of Participatory Programs: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in Education in India

The deplorable state of publicly provided social services in many developing countries has attracted considerable attention in recent years from academics and policymakers alike (World Bank 2003). Health and education sectors are plagued by high provider absenteeism, little on-the-job effort from those who do come to work, and overall poor performance. For example, teachers in primary schools and medical staff at primary health centers in India have absence rates of 25 percent and 40 percent, respectively (Nazmul Chaudhury et al. 2006). A 2008 nationwide survey on educational attainment in rural areas found that, even though 95.75 percent of