Mass media and public services: the effects of radio access on public education in Benin

Does radio access improve public service provision? And if so, does it do so by increasing government accountability to citizens, or by persuading households to take advantage of publicly-provided services? Prior research has argued that citizens with greater access to mass media receive greater benefits from targeted government welfare programs, but has not addressed these questions for public services such as in education and health. Using unique data from Benin, this paper finds that literacy rates among school children are higher in villages exposed to signals from a larger number of community radio stations. The effect is identified based on a "natural experiment" in the northern communes of Benin where within-commune variation in village access to radio stations is exogenous to observed and unobserved village characteristics. In contrast to prior research, the authors find that this media effect does not operate through government accountability: government inputs into village schools and household knowledge of government education policies are no different in villages with greater access to community radio. Instead, households with greater access are more likely to make financial investments in the education of their children. 

World Bank.Author: Keefer, Philip ; Khemani, Stuti. Document Date: 2011/02/01. Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper.Report Number: WPS5559

Mass media and public services: the effects of radio access on public education in Benin 

 For more information about Projects in Benin see Western Africa Projects

Benin.Doing Business 2012

Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 10 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. In a series of annual reports Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time.

This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Benin. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2011 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January- December 2010). The data not only highlight the extent of obstacles to doing business; they also help identify the source of those obstacles, supporting policy makers in designing regulatory reform.

World Bank.Document Date:  2011/01/01.Document Type:Working Paper.Report Number:65233

Benin.Doing Business 2012 v

Benin.Second Multisectoral HIV/AIDS Control Project

HIV/AIDS imposes enormous economic, social, health, and human costs and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The challenge is particularly acute in Sub-Saharan Africa, home to two-thirds (22.5 million) of the people living with HIV/AIDS globally, and where HIV/AIDS has become the leading cause of premature death. But now, after decades of misery and frustration with the disease, there are signs of hope. HIV prevalence rates in Africa are stabilizing. This book sheds light on these concerns by analyzing the fiscal implications of HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa, the epicenter of the epidemic. It uses the toolbox of public finance to assess the sustainability of HIV/AIDS programs.

Importantly, it highlights the long-term nature of the fiscal commitments implied by HIV/AIDS programs, and explicitly discusses the link between HIV infections and the resulting commitments of fiscal resources. The analysis shows that, absent adjustments to policies, treatment is not sustainable. But it also shows that, by accompanying treatment with prevention, and making existing programs more cost-effective, these countries can manage both treatment and fiscal sustainability. Even in countries where HIV/AIDS-related spending is high or increasing (as past infections translate into an increasing demand for treatment), the fiscal space absorbed by the costs of HIV/AIDS-related services will decline if progress in containing and rolling back the number of new infections can be sustained. The purpose of this study is to refine the analysis of the fiscal burden of HIV/AIDS on national governments and assess the fiscal risks associated with scaling-up national HIV/AIDS responses.

The study complements and contributes to the agenda on identifying and creating fiscal space for HIV/AIDS and other development expenditures. The findings from this study, and the analytical tools developed in it, could help governments in defining policy objectives, improving fiscal planning, and conducting their dialogue with donor agencies.

World Bank.Author:  Lule, Elizabeth ; Haacker, Markus.Document Date:  2011/01/01.Document Type:Publication.Report Number:65658.Volume No: 1 of 1

Benin - Second Multisectoral HIV/AIDS Control Project : restructuring

Main Report

Data Sheet

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Africa.Niger Basin Water Resources Development and Sustainable Ecosystems Management Project

The project development objective is to achieve a sustainable increase in the overall productivity of existing water resources to foster economic development in selected countries of the Niger River Basin.

Author: Talbi,Amal.Document Date:  2011/11/27.Document Type: Implementation Status and Results Report.Report Number:ISR4867

Africa - Niger Basin Water Resources Development and Sustainable Ecosystems Management Project : P093806 - Implementation Status Results Report : Sequence 09a