Uganda's recovery: the role of farms, firms, and government

In this chapter, Reinikka demonstrates that increasing public access to information has reduced inefficiency and corruption in Uganda. The survey from which her conclusions are drawn shows that budget allocations matter little when institutions are weak: at most, 20 percent of the intended non salary public spending on primary education reached schools during the period under review. The author describes how, in response, the government has taken steps to improve performance by increasing the flow on information within the system. A major breakthrough occurred when newspapers and the radio regularly announced the transfer of public funds to districts, and posted this information on education spending at schools. A follow-up survey in 1999 shows that as a result, input flow to the schools has improved dramatically since 1995. Schools now receive more than 90 percent of the non-wage funding released by the central government.