The use and abuse of data

The WDR contains a lot of data, from which far-reaching conclusions are drawn. As has already been noted, in chapter 2 the weak correlation between spending and outcomes is taken as evidence that under-funding of services is not a major challenge. Similarly, in chapter 2, the high proportion of public education spending allocated to teachers’ salaries is taken as evidence that unions wield disproportionate political influence, and therefore that funding increases without reform are futile, since any increment will be (mis-)used to raise salaries further still.

There is a lot of this sort of statistical misinference in the report, conflating correlations with causes, and then leaping to dramatic conclusions. The weak correlation between spending and outcomes might equally point to mis-spending, and the influence of other variables on sectoral outcomes. The high proportion of public spending on education going to teachers’ salaries probably reflects the paring down of non-salary recurrent expenditures in the face of extreme fiscal constraints, rather than teachers being over-paid in countries such as Zambia and Ghana.

The weak correlation between democracies and the effectiveness of basic services, discussed in chapter 5, is taken as evidence that the ‘long route’ to accountability doesn’t work. But what it might instead signify is that most democracies exist in name only, and that periodic elections don’t necessarily mean that a participatory and accountable political culture exists, in which effective pressure can be applied for improved services.

The WDR needs to apply more academic rigour in its use of data, and test its own assumptions much more seriously.

Submitted by: Patrick Watt -- June 10,2003
Country of Residence: United Kingdom
Country of Origin/Citizenship: United Kingdom
Institutional Affiliation: ActionAid
Occupation: Policy adviser
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In a comment posted during the final week of the e-discussion, and drawing upon her experience of both studying and teaching at rural schools in Russia, Nina Ibragimova made five recommendations to improve the situation:

1. Increase in salaries to teachers in rural areas
2. Introduction of special benefits and subsidies to teachers in rural areas
3. Provision of housing to young teachers in rural areas
4. Improvement of equipment in rural schools
5. Organization of conferences, workshops, seminars in rural areas.

Susana Cruickshank of Equipo Pueblo in Mexico argued for 'greater democratisation of the state's institutions' and wrote that this was important both to improve publicly delivered services and to ensure that private providers were accountable. However, she warned:

'If it is true that is very important to generate participative mechanisms for the poor, it is necessary, first of all, to give the education. If there is no education, there is not a real nor critic participation, but co-optation. The poor of the system need real empowerment mechanisms.'

Public service union leaders Ogmundur Jonasson and Guus van Huygevoort, of Iceland and Netherlands respectively, took somewhat different approaches from each other. Jonasson was highly critical but aimed his fire not at the WDR itself but at what he sees as the pro-privatisation bias of the World Bank and IMF generally. Van Huygevoort focused on the WDR, and stated:

'In the WDR, there are several balanced and sensible analyses. We cannot support all recommendations of the policy agenda, but on the whole we consider the report challenging and an interesting starting point for further discussion. Still, I also have to make some critical remarks. We would like to comment on the overlooked role unions can play in improving the quality of public services, and on the overestimation of the possible contribution of corporations in this field.'

From Germany, Yvonne Pagenkopf was likewise critical in some respects but not in others, supporting the elimination of subsidies that enable services to benefit the better-off but opposing privatisation.

Victor Tenorio Arias, from Spain, urged an holistic approach. 'Any piece of work on service provision in developing countries should put a major stress on how the effectiveness of one service provided depends on the existence of another.'

Submitted by: Brendan Martin -- June 10,2003
Country of Residence: United Kingdom
Country of Origin/Citizenship: Ireland
Institutional Affiliation: Public World
Occupation: E-discussion moderator
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Num comentario feito durante a semana final da discussao eletronica, com base na sua experiencia como estudante e professora em escolas rurais na Russia, Nina Ibragimova fez cinco recomendacoes para melhorar a situacao:

1. Aumentar os salarios dos professores em areas rurais
2. Introducao de beneficios especiais e subsidios para professores em areas rurais
3. Provisao de habitacao para jovens professores nas areas rurais
4. Melhoria dos equipamentos em escolas rurais
5. Organizacao de conferencia, workshops e seminaries em areas rurais.

Susana Cruickshank da Equipo Pueblo no Mexico argumentou em favor de 'uma maior democratizacao das instituicoes do estado' e escreveu que isto e importante para melhorar servicos publicamente providos e para assegurar que fornecedores privados se tornem mais responsaveis. Entretanto, ela avisa:

?Se e verdade que e muito importante criar mecanismos participativos para os pobres, e necessario, antes de tudo, prover-lhe educacao. Se nao ha educacao, nao ha participacao critica ou real, mas co-opcao.'

Os lideres de sindicatos de servicos publicos Ogmundur Jonasson e Guus van Huygevoort, da Islandia e Paises Baisos respectivamente, abordaram as questoes de maneira diferente. Jonasson foi muito critico, nao em relacao ao Relatorio de Desenvolvimento Mundial (RDM) em si, mas em relacao ao que ele enxerga como o favorecimento da privatizacao por parte do Banco Mundial e FMI de maneira geral. Van Huygevoort concentrou seus comentarios no RDM, e afirmou:

'No RDM, ha muitas analises sensatas e equilibradas. Nos nao podemos apoiar todas as recomendacoes das politicas em pauta, mas no geral consideramos o relatorio desafiante e um interessante ponto de partida para futura discussao. Contudo, eu ainda tenho algumas criticas a fazer. Nos gostariamos de comentar a respeito do negligenciado papel dos sindicatos na melhoria da qualidade dos servicos publicos e da excessiva valorizacao da contribuicao que empresas privadas podem fazer neste campo'.

Da Alemanha, Yvonne Pagenkopf tambem criticou alguns aspectos, apoiando a eliminacao de subsidios que possibilitem aos servicos beneficiar apenas cidadaos em melhor situacao, mas se opos a privatizacao.

Victor Tenorio Arias, da Espanha, encoraja uma abordagem holistica: 'Qualquer trabalho sobre a provisao de servicos em paises em desenvolvimento deveria colocar grande enfase sobre como a eficacia de um servico provido depended da existencia de um outro.'

Submitted by: Ana Beatriz Urbano Andari -- June 10,2003
Country of Residence: Brazil
Country of Origin/Citizenship: United Kingdom
Institutional Affiliation: Public World
Occupation: Mediadora (lingua portuguesa)
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En se basant sur son expérience d'étudiante et d'enseignante dans les écoles rurales russes, Nina Ibragimova fait cinq recommandations pour améliorer la situation (commentaires soumis lors de la dernière semaine de la e-discussion).

1. Augmenter les salaires des enseignants dans les zones rurales.
2. Introduire des avantages spéciaux pour les enseignants dans les zones rurales.
3. Fournir des logements aux jeunes enseignants dans les zones rurales.
4. Améliorer les équipements dans les écoles rurales.
5. Organiser des séminaires, conférences, ateliers dans les zones rurales.

Susana Cruickshank de Equipo Pueblo au Mexique demande "une plus grande démocratisation des institutions de l'Etat". Elle rappelle qu'il est important d'améliorer à la fois l'accès aux services publics et de s'assurer que les fournisseurs privés sont transparents et contrôlables. Cependant elle déclare:

"S'il est vrai qu'il est très important de créer des mécanismes de participation pour les pauvres, il faut en premier lieu leur donner accès à l'éducation. S'il n'y a pas d'éducation, il ne peut pas y avoir de réelle participation et de critique, mais seulement de la coopération. La population pauvre a besoin de véritables mécanismes lui donnant plus de pouvoir".

Ogmundur Jonasson et Guus van Huygevoort, des dirigeants de syndicats du service public, respectivement en Islande et au Pays Bas ont des approches assez différentes l'une de l'autre. Jonasson est très critique mais s'insurge moins contre le WDR en lui-même que ce qu'il voit comme le penchant pro-privatisation de la banque mondiale et du FMI en général. Van Huygevoort s'est intéressé au WDR plus en particulier:

"Dans le WDR, il y a plusieurs analyses censées et mesurées. On ne peut pas soutenir toutes les recommandations de l'agenda mais dans l'ensemble nous considérons que le rapport est un point de départ intéressant pour de plus amples discussions. Je dois toutefois émettre des critiques. Nous souhaitons faire une remarque sur le rôle réel des syndicats dans l'amélioration de la qualité des services publics qui est sous estimé. D'un autre coté, la contribution des entreprises dans ce domaine est surestimée".

Yvonne Pagenkopf d'Allemagne, est en faveur de la suppression des subventions qui bénéficient aux plus riches mais elle s'oppose à la privatisation.

Victor Tenorio Arias, d'Espagne, prône une "approche holistique". "Toute étude sur l'accès aux services publics dans les pays en voie de développement devrait insister sur au fait que l'efficacité d'un service fourni dépend de l'existence d'autres services".

Submitted by: Marie -- June 09,2003
Country of Residence: United Kingdom
Country of Origin/Citizenship: France
Institutional Affiliation: Masters
Occupation: Moderatrice
Language:

En un comentario realizado en la ?a semana de la discusi�lectr󮩣�a, y teniendo como base su experiencia estudiando y ense񡮤�o en los colegios rurales en Rusia, Nina Ibragimova realiz󠣩�nco recomendaciones para mejorar la situaci󮺍�

1. Incrementar los salarios de los profesores del sector rural.
2. Intoducir bebeficios especiales y subsidios a los profesores del sector rural.
3. Proveer casas a los profesores j󶥮�es en el sector rural.
4. Mejorar el equipo en los colegios rurales.
5. Organizar conferencias, talleres y seminarios en el sector rural.

Susana Cruickshank de Equipo Pueblo en Mexico alega por ?una mayor democratizaci󮠤�e las instituciones del estado? y escribi󠱵�e esto era importante tanto para mejorar la entrega de servicios por parte del sector p?o como para asegurar que los proveedores privados sean responsables. Sin embargo, ella advirti󠱵�e:

?Si bien es important�mo que se generen formas de participaci󮠤�e los empobrecidos en la construcci󮠤�e sus demandas, es necesario que primero se les de educaci󮠲�eal. Este punto es un lugar com?ero sigue siendo bᳩco. Si no hay educaci󮬠�no hay participaci󮠲�eal ni cr�ca. Si no hay educaci󮬠�no hay m᳠que sometimiento y cooptaci󮮠�Los empobrecidos por el sistema necesitan de mecanismos reales de empoderamiento?.

L?res de los sindicatos de servicios p?os, Ogmundur Jonasson y Guus Van Huygevoort, de Islandia y de los Pa�s Bajos, respectivamente, tuvieron en cierta medida diferentes posiciones entre ellos. Jonasson fue muy cr�co no en el WDR mismo, pero en la orientaci󮠰�ro-privatizaci󮠤�el Banco Mundial y del FMI. Van Huygevoort se enfoc󠥮� el WDR y afirm󺍼�br />
?En el WDR hay varios anᬩsis sensatos y balanciados. Nosotros no podemos apoyar todas las recomendaciones de la agenda de pol�cas, pero en general consideramos el reporte desafiante y un interesante punto de partida para otras discusiones. Sin embargo, tambi鮠tengo que hacer algunos puntos cr�cos. Nos gustar?comentar en el papel ignorado de los sindicatos en la mejora de la calidad de los servicios p?os y en la sobre-estimada contribuci󮠤�e las cororaciones en este campo?.

De Alemania, Yvonne Pagenkopf tambi鮠fue cr�ca en algunos puntos pero no en otros, apoy󠬡� la eliminaci󮠤�e los subsidios que permiten que los servicios beneficien a los favorecidos pero se opuso a la privatizaci󮮍�

Victor Tenorio Arias, de Espa񡬠�llam󠡠�una aproximaci󮠨�ol�ica. ?Cualquier pieza de trabajo en la provisi󮠤�e servicios en los pa�s en desarrollo debe de enfatizar en como la eficiencia de un proveedor de servicios depende de la existencia de otro?.

Submitted by: Adriana Garc?-- June 09,2003
Country of Residence: United Kingdom
Country of Origin/Citizenship: Colombia
Institutional Affiliation: Public World
Occupation: Moderadora
Language: