de Janvry, Alain. <br/><br/>
Local Electoral Incentives and Decentralized Program Performance / 
Alain de Janvry, Frederico Finan, Elisabeth Sadoulet. 
 - Cambridge, Mass.  National Bureau of Economic Research  2010. 
 - 1 online resource:  illustrations (black and white); 
 - NBER working paper series  no. w16635 .
 - Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research)  no. w16635. .
<br/><br/> December 2010. 
<br/><br/> This paper analyzes how electoral incentives affected the performance of a major decentralized conditional cash transfer program intended on reducing school dropout rates among children of poor households in Brazil. We show that while this federal program successfully reduced school dropout by 8 percentage points, the program's impact was 36 percent larger in municipalities governed by mayors who faced reelection possibilities compared to those with lame-duck mayors. First term mayors with good program performance were much more likely to get re-elected. These mayors adopted program implementation practices that were not only more transparent but also associated with better program outcomes. 
<br/><br/>
<br/><br/><br/>System requirements: Adobe [Acrobat] Reader required for PDF files. <br/>Mode of access: World Wide Web.