Building infrastructure and cohesion through locally embedded institutions: Evidence from a field experiment in War-torn Eastern Congo
Journal of Development Economics · 2027 · Eric N. Mvukiyehe、Julie Bousquet、Marijke Verpoorten
中文摘要
战乱国家中许多社区驱动发展（CDD）干预的一个决定性特征是其追求变革性目标，力图在此过程中（重）塑造地方决策机构。近年来，出现了一股改革CDD方法的推动力，其重点在于设定更为现实的目标，即提供基础设施并建设现有地方机构的能力。我们通过一项涉及刚果东部400个社区的大规模田野实验，考察了一项体现这一新重点的CDD项目的效应。我们的策略使我们能够识别CDD干预的因果影响——其基本形式包括一笔10万美元的资金，用于资助一个强调“本地内容”的基础设施项目——以及在附加冲突缓解配套组件时的因果影响。尽管该干预成功交付了可见的基础设施项目，但我们未发现对社会凝聚力、（暴力）冲突或经济福利有任何可检测的效应。我们在结论部分讨论了政策含义。
Abstract
A defining feature of many Community-Driven Development (CDD) interventions in wartorn countries is their pursuit of transformative objectives, seeking to (re)shape local decisionmaking institutions in the process. In recent years, there has been a push to overhaul CDD approaches, with a focus on more realistic objectives aimed at providing infrastructure and building capacity of existing local institutions. We investigate, through a large-scale field experiment involving 400 communities in eastern Congo, the effects of a CDD program that embodied this new focus. Our strategy allows us to identify causal impacts of the CDD intervention, in its basic form consisting of a US$100,000 envelope to finance an infrastructure project with an emphasis on ‘local content’, as well as when augmented with a complementary conflict mitigation component. While the intervention successfully delivered visible infrastructure projects, we find no detectable effects on social cohesion, (violent) conflict, or economic welfare. We conclude discussing policy implications.