IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/11299.html

Individual Demand for Building State Effectiveness

Author

Listed:
  • Dienes, Harry J.
  • Rogger, Daniel
  • Emagne, Yetsedaw
  • Schinaia, Giulio

Abstract

Investments in public sector workers’ human capital can generate social returns by improving service delivery and state effectiveness. Yet it is unclear whether public workers internalise these broader benefits when making investment decisions. This study elicited willingness-to-pay (WTP) for professional development from Ethiopian public servants and embedded randomised interventions targeting anticipated benefits. Baseline WTP is positive but below implementation costs. Explicitly emphasising private benefits modestly raises demand compared to highlighting societal returns. Implicitly increasing the salience of a supportive managerial environment substantially increases WTP, underscoring the role of perceived organisational norms in public service investment decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Dienes, Harry J. & Rogger, Daniel & Emagne, Yetsedaw & Schinaia, Giulio, 2026. "Individual Demand for Building State Effectiveness," Policy Research Working Paper Series 11299, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11299
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099848101152649699/pdf/IDU-1eb6078f-985e-4497-a955-6f25decfdf19.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Burchardi, Konrad B. & de Quidt, Jonathan & Gulesci, Selim & Lerva, Benedetta & Tripodi, Stefano, 2021. "Testing willingness to pay elicitation mechanisms in the field: Evidence from Uganda," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    2. Oriana Bandiera & Michael Carlos Best & Adnan Qadir Khan & Andrea Prat, 2021. "The Allocation of Authority in Organizations: A Field Experiment with Bureaucrats," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(4), pages 2195-2242.
    3. Aghion, Philippe & Tirole, Jean, 1997. "Formal and Real Authority in Organizations," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(1), pages 1-29, February.
    4. Imran Rasul & Daniel Rogger, 2018. "Management of Bureaucrats and Public Service Delivery: Evidence from the Nigerian Civil Service," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(608), pages 413-446, February.
    5. Gunhild Berg & Bilal Zia, 2017. "Harnessing Emotional Connections to Improve Financial Decisions: Evaluating the Impact of Financial Education in Mainstream Media," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 15(5), pages 1025-1055.
    6. James Berry & Greg Fischer & Raymond Guiteras, 2020. "Eliciting and Utilizing Willingness to Pay: Evidence from Field Trials in Northern Ghana," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(4), pages 1436-1473.
    7. Abhijit Banerjee & Eliana La Ferrara & Victor H. Orozco-Olvera, 2019. "The Entertaining Way to Behavioral Change: Fighting HIV with MTV," NBER Working Papers 26096, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Oriana Bandiera & Iwan Barankay & Imran Rasul, 2011. "Field Experiments with Firms," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 25(3), pages 63-82, Summer.
    9. Emanuele Colonnelli & Mounu Prem & Edoardo Teso, 2020. "Patronage and Selection in Public Sector Organizations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(10), pages 3071-3099, October.
    10. Bernard, Tanguy & Dercon, Stefan & Orkin, Kate & Schinaia, Giulio & Seyoum Taffesse, Alemayehu, 2023. "The Future in Mind: Aspirations and Long-term Outcomes in Rural Ethiopia," CEPR Discussion Papers 18492, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Muhammad Yasir Khan, 2025. "Mission Motivation and Public Sector Performance: Experimental Evidence from Pakistan," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 115(7), pages 2343-2375, July.
    12. Imran Rasul & Daniel Rogger, 2018. "Management of Bureaucrats and Public Service Delivery: Evidence from the Nigerian Civil Service," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(608), pages 413-446, February.
    13. Canice Prendergast, 1993. "The Role of Promotion in Inducing Specific Human Capital Acquisition," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(2), pages 523-534.
    14. Erika Deserranno & Philipp Kastrau & Gianmarco León-Ciliotta, 2025. "Promotions and Productivity: The Role of Meritocracy and Pay Progression in the Public Sector," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 7(1), pages 71-89, March.
    15. Lerva,Benedetta, 2023. "The Monetary Value of Externalities : Experimental Evidence from Ugandan Farmers," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10521, The World Bank.
    16. Gary S. Becker, 1964. "Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, First Edition," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck-5, August.
    17. Ricardo Dahis & Laura Schiavon & Thiago Scot, 2025. "Selecting Top Bureaucrats: Admission Exams and Performance in Brazil," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 107(2), pages 408-425, March.
    18. Rebecca Dizon-Ross & Seema Jayachandran, 2022. "Improving Willingness-to-Pay Elicitation by Including a Benchmark Good," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 112, pages 551-555, May.
    19. Marianne Bertrand & Robin Burgess & Arunish Chawla & Guo Xu, 2020. "The Glittering Prizes: Career Incentives and Bureaucrat Performance," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 87(2), pages 626-655.
    20. Ashraf, Nava & Bandiera, Oriana & Jack, B. Kelsey, 2014. "No margin, no mission? A field experiment on incentives for public service delivery," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 1-17.
    21. Acemoglu, Daron & Pischke, Jorn-Steffen, 1999. "Beyond Becker: Training in Imperfect Labour Markets," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 109(453), pages 112-142, February.
    22. Edwin Leuven, 2005. "The Economics of Private Sector Training: A Survey of the Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(1), pages 91-111, February.
    23. Luis Garicano, 2000. "Hierarchies and the Organization of Knowledge in Production," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(5), pages 874-904, October.
    24. Alessandro Maffioli & David McKenzie & Diego Ubfal, 2023. "Estimating the Demand for Business Training: Evidence from Jamaica," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 72(1), pages 123-158.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Liu, Kevin Zhengcheng & Zhang, Xiaoming, 2025. "Discretion, talent allocation, and governance performance: Evidence from China’s imperial bureaucracy," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    2. Kim, Galileu & Kumar, Tanu & Ramalho, Rita & Russell, Stuart Ehrlich, 2026. "Institutional Capacity for Policy Implementation : An Analytical Framework," Policy Research Working Paper Series 11279, The World Bank.
    3. Callen, Michael & Gulzar, Saad & Hasanain, Ali & Khan, Muhammad Yasir & Rezaee, Arman, 2023. "The political economy of public sector absence," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    4. Kalaj, Jozefina & Rogger, Daniel & Somani, Ravi, 2022. "Bureaucrat time-use: Evidence from a survey experiment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    5. Tukiainen, Janne & Blesse, Sebastian & Bohne, Albrecht & Giuffrida, Leonardo M. & Jääskeläinen, Jan & Luukinen, Ari & Sieppi, Antti, 2024. "What are the priorities of bureaucrats? Evidence from conjoint experiments with procurement officials," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    6. Gulzar, Saad & Ladino, Juan Felipe & Mehmood, Muhammad Zia & Rogger, Daniel, 2025. "Command and Can’t Control : Assessing Centralized Accountability in the Public Sector," Policy Research Working Paper Series 11200, The World Bank.
    7. Joseph,George & Ayling,Sophie Charlotte Emi & Miquel-Florensa,Pepita & Bejarano,Hernán D. & Cardona,Alejandra Quevedo, 2021. "Behavioral Insights in Infrastructure Sectors : A Survey," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9704, The World Bank.
    8. Aman-Rana, Shan, 2025. "Meritocracy in a bureaucracy," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    9. Gauri, Varun & Jamison, Julian C. & Mazar, Nina & Ozier, Owen, 2021. "Motivating bureaucrats through social recognition: External validity—A tale of two states," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 117-131.
    10. De La O, Ana L. & González, Lucas I. & Weitz-Shapiro, Rebecca, 2023. "Voluntary audits: Experimental evidence on a new approach to monitoring front-line bureaucrats," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    11. Haus, Martin, 2025. "Breaking Out of Low-Effort Traps: Bureaucratic Leadership by Persuasion," SocArXiv 9zx5w_v1, Center for Open Science.
    12. Stefano Caria & Philipp Kastrau & Erika Deserranno & Gianmarco León-Ciliotta, 2022. "The Allocation of Incentives in Multi-Layered Organizations: Evidence from a Community Health Program in Sierra Leone," Working Papers 1346, Barcelona School of Economics.
    13. Aisha J Ali & Javier Fuenzalida & Margarita Gómez & Martin J Williams, 2021. "Four lenses on people management in the public sector: an evidence review and synthesis," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 37(2), pages 335-366.
    14. Amodio, Francesco & Choi, Jieun & De Giorgi, Giacomo & Rahman, Aminur, 2022. "Bribes vs. taxes: Market structure and incentives," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 435-453.
    15. Mizuno, Nobuhiro & Okazawa, Ryosuke, 2025. "A dynamic theory on clientelism and bureaucratic development," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    16. Harris, Donna & Borcan , Oana & Serra, Danila & Telli, Henry & Schettini, Bruno & Dercon, Stefan, 2024. "Proud to Belong: The Impact of Ethics Training on Police Officers in Ghana," CEPR Discussion Papers 19141, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. Elisa Gerten & Michael Beckmann & Elisa Gerten & Matthias Kräkel, 2022. "Information and Communication Technology, Hierarchy, and Job Design," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 189, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    18. Jack, B. Kelsey & McDermott, Kathryn & Sautmann, Anja, 2022. "Multiple price lists for willingness to pay elicitation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    19. Filipe Almeida-Santos & Karen Mumford, 2006. "Employee Training, Wage Dispersion and Equality in Britain," Discussion Papers 06/14, Department of Economics, University of York.
    20. Piza, Caio & Zwager, Astrid & Ruzzante, Matteo & Dantas, Rafael & Loureiro, Andre, 2024. "Teacher-led innovations to improve education outcomes: Experimental evidence from Brazil," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11299. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Roula I. Yazigi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dvewbus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.