Arnab Acharya - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Arnab Acharya

There are signs that public services can improve in big cities when the urban poor hold providers... more There are signs that public services can improve in big cities when the urban poor hold providers directly accountablewhat we now call social accountability. We do not know, however, to what extent the urban poor, through their civil society groups, engage in forms of social accountability nor what strategies they use. We do not know what factors lead the poor to choose accountability as a way to secure access to essential services, rather than clientelism, electing representatives to public office or simply self-provisioning. We need to answer these questions in order to develop programmes that support accountability initiatives and understand the potential social accountability has to improve the basic public services. We designed a unique comparative study to take a step in this direction. The study compares activism by the urban poor to improve two essential types of services in the cities of Delhi and São Paulo, primary healthcare and social assistance. The unusual comparison between a South Asian and Latin American city, and across two very different types of services, gives us greater capacity to sort through different possible causes of accountability activism by the urban poor and explanations for the different types of strategies people use. In the two cities, we find, a substantial share of civil society groups attempt to improve health and welfare services by holding providers accountable. They seek to establish greater accountability as one of several types of engagement strategies with the statethat is, accountability is a part of a larger repertoire of activism. There is large variation, however, in the level of activity and type of strategies in the two cities, and across the two services. Surprisingly, accountability activism is most robust in health in São Paulo and welfare (Public Distribution System, PDS) in Delhi; and least in welfare (Family Minimum Income Guarantee) in São Paulo and health in Delhi. Understanding the sources of this variation is one of the challenges of our paper. We look at whether the type of organisation and sources of funding influence accountability activity, and whether it matters whether civil society groups are local or translocal, or active in several areas of the city. We look at whether the type of service, or how services are provided, shapes activism. And we explore whether institutional factors, such as the right to information legislation in India and participatory governance councils in Brazil, which create different kinds of incentives or opportunities for civil society actors, impact levels of activity and what strategies are adopted.

Campbell Systematic Reviews, 2021

The review aims to examine and synthesise the state of the evidence around what works to improve ... more The review aims to examine and synthesise the state of the evidence around what works to improve productivity, income, nutrition and women's empowerment outcomes of households involved in aquaculture in low‐ and middle‐income countries. We are particularly interested in addressing the following research questions: (1) Do aquaculture interventions increase the productivity, income, nutrition and empowerment of individuals engaged in aquaculture and their households in low‐ and middle‐income countries? (2) Do aquaculture interventions generate income and nutrition spillover effects beyond the farmers' households? (3) To what extent do the effects of aquaculture interventions vary by intervention type, population group, and location? In particular, to what extent do effects vary by gender? (4) What are the potential barriers and facilitating factors that impact the effectiveness of aquaculture interventions? (5) What is the cost‐effectiveness of different aquaculture interventions focused on productivity, income, nutrition and empowerment outcomes?

IDS Bulletin, 2018

Most development interventions are complex, comprising several interacting activities affecting m... more Most development interventions are complex, comprising several interacting activities affecting multiple outcomes. Impact evaluations of such interventions are widespread, but the literature offers little guidance on how to assess the cost-effectiveness of such integrated projects. We review the literature that conducts cost-effectiveness analyses of multiple interventions alongside impact evaluations in low-and middle-income countries. Only seven studies are identified in areas as diverse as de-worming, school support, conditional cash transfers, early childhood development, and social funds. We find that none of the applied approaches can be effectively employed in all instances, though each of them can be applied in some special cases. Furthermore, none of the studies reviewed addresses output synergies. Given the rising numbers of impact assessments in development practice and their importance for policy, research needs to develop sound methods to assess the cost-effectiveness of integrated interventions.

World Development, 2005

Detailed fieldwork in São Paulo, Brazil, shows that the conventional understanding of civil socie... more Detailed fieldwork in São Paulo, Brazil, shows that the conventional understanding of civil society and citizen participation is flawed in two major ways. The dominant focus on the participation of individual citizens is misplaced, as it is civil organizations representing different sectors of the poor that participate in substantial numbers in participatory institutions. The civil society approach in international development suggests that the most effective voice of the poor in policy making comes from civil society organizations (CSOs) that are independent of political parties and state agencies. Across different participatory institutions in São Paulo, however, the most active representatives of the poor are those well connected to conventional political actors-political parties and state agencies. This connection between civil and political actors suggests the need for a ''polity-centered'' approach to understanding issues of participation and representation.

Vaccine, 2002

Background: In 1994, the Americas set a goal of interrupting indigenous measles transmission from... more Background: In 1994, the Americas set a goal of interrupting indigenous measles transmission from the Western Hemisphere by 2000. To accomplish this goal, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) developed an enhanced measles vaccination strategy. Methods: Cost data was collected at PAHO for Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries covering 96% of the region's population on components of the routine programs, and the 'follow-up' activities from member countries. In order to interpret our findings we have compared the present scenario regarding measles with one that would have ensued if past trends continued. Results: For the entire LAC population, estimated cost of elimination program will be US$ 571 million in present value terms. Interpretation: The vaccination strategy toward achieving elimination of measles costs US$ 244 million, incremental from the cost of vaccination before the elimination program. Within 2000-2020, the current program will have prevented the occurrence of 3.2 million cases of measles and 16,000 deaths. Thus, vaccination strategy prevents a single case of measles at the cost of US$ 71.75 and prevents a death due to measles at the cost of US$ 15,000. The case fatality rate depends on a well functioning treatment program for measles cases. The vaccination strategy saves a total of US$ 208 million in treatments costs due to reduced incidence of measles.

Theory and Society, 2010

In many Third Wave democracies large classes of people experience diminished forms of citizenship... more In many Third Wave democracies large classes of people experience diminished forms of citizenship. The systematic exclusion from mandated public goods and services significantly injures the citizenship and life chances of entire social groups. In democratic theory civil associations have a fundamental role to play in reversing this reality. One strand of theory, known as civic engagement, suggests that associations empower their members to engage in public politics, hold state officials to account, claim public services, and thereby improve the quality of democracy. Empirical demonstration of the argument is surprisingly rare, however, and limited to affluent democracies. In this article, we use original survey data for two large cities in Third Wave democracies-São Paulo and Mexico City-to explore this argument in a novel way. We focus on the extent to which participation in associations (or associationalism) increases "active citizenship"-the effort to negotiate directly with state agents access to goods and services legally mandated for public provision, such as healthcare, sanitation, and security-rather than civic engagement, which encompasses any voluntary and public spirited activity. We examine separately associationalism's impact on the quality of citizenship, a dimension that varies independently from the level of active citizenship, by assessing differences in the types of citizenship practices individuals use to obtain access to vital goods and services. To interpret the findings, and identify possible causal pathways, the paper moves back-and-forth between two major research traditions that are rarely brought into dialogue: civic engagement and comparative historical studies of democratization.

Journal of Development Studies, 2006

The problem of the proliferation of the number of aid donors and aid channels continues to worsen... more The problem of the proliferation of the number of aid donors and aid channels continues to worsen. It is widely and plausibly believed that this significantly reduces the value of aid by increasing direct and indirect transactions costs. We contribute to the existing literature by: (a) categorising the apparent adverse effects of proliferation; (b) producing a reliable and fair indicator of the relative degree to which the main bilateral donors proliferate or concentrate their aid; (c) giving some explanation of why some donors proliferate more than others; (d) constructing a reliable measure of the extent to which recipients suffer from the problem of fragmentation in the sources of their aid; and (e) demonstrating that the worst proliferators among the aid donors are especially likely to be suppliers of aid to recipients suffering most from fragmentation. There are significant implications for aid policy. I. The Argument Contemporary development aid has its historical roots in Marshall Plan assistance from the United States to Western Europe after World War II. Its first and arguably greatest success in the developing world was achieved in Taiwan in the 1950s and 1960s, where a large American aid programme played a significant role in sparking Taiwan's economic miracle. What interests us about these cases is not so much the fact that the aid donor was the United States. More important for present purposes is the fact that there was a single donor, whose agents were both interventionist and authoritative in engaging with recipient governments over the use of aid (Jacoby, 1966). From an institutional perspective, we now live in a very different aid world. It is a long time since the US was the dominant source of development aid. We use the term proliferation to draw attention to the fact that the number of sources and channels of aid have increased faster than the actual volume of aid. First, a large

Health Policy and Planning, 2004

Gender, Technology and Development, 2008

Trafficking in humans is an integral part of the social and economic fabric in Mexico as in other... more Trafficking in humans is an integral part of the social and economic fabric in Mexico as in other parts of the world. This practice causes intolerable degradation and suffering for the girls and young women involved and are treated as a commodity. The process results in a risk to their physical and mental health, and in particular, to their sexual health, which I have explored in this research. Sixty trafficked women currently working as commercial sex workers were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire, and 13 in-depth interviews were conducted in the La Merced red-light area of Mexico City. Trafficked women in Mexico are basically young women, have little education and are mostly unmarried. The women I interviewed were working in cheap hotels and were living with a pimp. In the week prior to the interviews, 70 percent were beaten with objects, 100 percent were abused verbally, 28 percent were burned by lighting cigarettes, 36 percent were threatened with being killed and 22 percent were raped by clients and traffickers. Unwanted pregnancies and forced abortions were common; 65 percent had had at least one abortion. Almost all women had been infected by sexually transmitted diseases. The present research concluded that sexual violence has serious physical and mental health risks on trafficked women and it needs an urgent response from the government not only to provide health facilities to these women but also to eradicate women trafficking in Mexico. Millions of girls and women suffer from violence and its consequences because of their sex and their unequal status in society (Lagarde 2001). Violence against women, also known as gender-based violence, is a serious violation of women's human rights. Worldwide, one out of five women

A participação em São Paulo, 2004

São Paulo. Mimeografado, 2004

A multiplicação de expedientes de participação coletiva e direta implementadas e praticadas nos ú... more A multiplicação de expedientes de participação coletiva e direta implementadas e praticadas nos últimos anos em países de renda média e baixa parecem anunciar uma nova política democrática. Experiências inovadoras como o orçamento participativo nas cidades brasileiras, bem como os espaços de participação e deliberação política, na capital uruguaia, Montevidéu, e no Estado indiano de Kerala estão criando amplas arenas democráticas e novas práticas fora das fronteiras das instituições de representação ...

Participação e deliberação: Teoria Democrática e Experiências Institucionais no Brasil Contemporâneo. São Paulo: CEBRAP, 2004

O orçamento participativo, os conselhos gestores de políticas e uma verdadeira "febre" de inovaçã... more O orçamento participativo, os conselhos gestores de políticas e uma verdadeira "febre" de inovação institucional visando a expandir a participação da população na gestão pública, em áreas e sob mecanismos os mais diversos, tornaram-se parte do panorama da política no país ao longo da última década. Embora o Brasil seja caso emblemático na literatura acadêmica internacional, e inclusive nos documentos das agencias multilaterais e nos círculos internacionais de formuladores de políticas públicas, trata-se de fenômeno mais amplo: a cristalização em sociedades que vão da Índia à América Latina, passando pela África, de espaços de participação inéditos porque inscritos de modo maciço não nos canais tradicionais de agregação de interesses do sistema político (legislativo), mas na órbita de funções reservadas ao poder executivo. 1 No Brasil, como alhures, tais experiências de inovação vem acompanhadas de expectativas quanto aos seus efeitos promissores na racionalização do desenho e * Por seus numerosos comentários, que enriqueceram substancialmente as ideais aqui apresentadas,

This paper explores the participation of collective civil society actors in institutional spaces ... more This paper explores the participation of collective civil society actors in institutional spaces for direct citizen participation in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. The data was produced by a unique survey of civil society actors who work for, or with, sectors of the lower-middle class, the working class, and the urban poor. The paper identifies factors that influence the propensity of civil society actors to participate in three types of institutions: the participatory budget, the constitutionally mandated policy councils, and other local participatory councils and programmes. Many political leaders, policy-makers and researchers believe that such forms of direct citizen participation can help democratise and rationalise the state, as well as provide politically marginalised populations with a say in policy. Whether these hopes materialise depends in part on the answer(s) to a question the literatures on civil society, citizen participation and empowered participation have not addressed-Who Participates? Contrary to the focus on autonomy in much of the work on civil society, the statistical findings support the claim that collective actors with relations to institutional actors, and the Workers' Party and State actors in particular, have the highest propensity to participate. The findings also support the idea that the institutional design of participatory policy-making spaces has a significant impact on who participates, and that this impact varies by type of civil society actor. Unlike what has been found in research on individual citizen participation, there is no evidence that the "wealth" of collective actors influences participation.

Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were developed as a health gap measure to quantify the bur... more Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were developed as a health gap measure to quantify the burden of disease and injury on human populations for the Global Burden of Disease Study (Murray 1996). Murray and Acharya (1997) have reviewed the specific formulation of DALYs and the arguments underpinning the social values explicitly incorporated into DALYs. This paper summarizes the arguments supporting the use of age weights and time discounting in health gaps. It draws on the previous paper by Murray and Acharya (1997).