The Millennium Development Goals and Education: Accountability and Substitution in Global Indicators

James H. Bisbee, James R. Hollyer, B. Peter Rosendorff, James Raymond Vreeland

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Precise international metrics and assessments may induce governments to alter policies in pursuit of more favorable assessments according to these metrics. In this paper, we explore a secondary effect of Global Performance Indicators (GPIs): Insofar as governments have finite resources and make trade-offs in public goods investments, a GPI that precisely targets the provision of a particular public good may cause governments to substitute away from the provision of other, related, public goods. We argue that both the main effect of the GPI (on the measured public good) and this substitution effect vary systematically based on the domestic political institutions and informational environments of targeted states. Specifically, we contend that both the main and substitution effects of GPIs should be largest for governments that are least accountable (opaque and non-democratic) and should be smallest for those that are most accountable. We illustrate the logic of these arguments using a formal model and test these claims using data on primary and secondary enrollment rates across 114 countries. We find that countries substitute toward primary (which is targeted by the Millennium Development Goals) and away from secondary (which is not), and that these effects are mitigated as accountability rises.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationThe Power of Global Performance Indicators
PublisherCambridge University Press
Pages375-408
Number of pages34
ISBN (Electronic)9781108763493
ISBN (Print)9781108487207
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2020

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Social Sciences

Keywords

  • Millennium Development Goals
  • primary education
  • public policy
  • secondary education
  • substitution effect
  • transparency

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