Municipal Governance in Mali: Exploring Performance Based Funding to Increase Accountability

This study leverages a pilot performance-based funding (PBF) initiative by the Government of Mali to study how it might influence citizen trust in and engagement with government. We will carry out an experiment in local governments participating in the program using surveys with randomly assigned information about features of the program. We vary whether individuals receive information about the program, whether they are told that government performance information will be shared, and whether they are told that civil society organizations will be involved in government oversight. This will provide evidence on whether information about policy initiatives influences citizen satisfaction with the process, as well as on how community monitoring programs can be designed to more effectively monitor civil servants. The project is directly tied to the Kellogg themes of governance and development as it seeks to improve accountability and public goods provision at the lowest level of government in Mali.