Abstract:
In 2007, the government of Indonesia (GoI) introduced PNPM Generasi (National Community Empowerment Program—Healthy and Smart Generation, Program Nasional Pemberdayaan Masyarakat—Generasi Sehat dan Cerdas) to address key policy priorities and the Millennium Development Goals—reducing poverty, maternal mortality, and child mortality, as well as ensuring universal coverage of basic education. Generasi provides over 5,400 villages with an annual block grant, which each village can allocate to any activity that supports one of 12 indicators of health and education service delivery. Each village’s success in meeting these 12 targets helps determine the size of the next year’s grant. Trained facilitators recruited from within the communities help implement the program. To facilitate a rigorous evaluation of the program, GoI (working with the World Bank and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab) randomly assigned Generasi locations for the pilot phase (2007–09). A randomized evaluation of two different versions of the program (with and without performance bonuses) was conducted in three rounds (Wave I at baseline, Wave II 18 months after implementation, and Wave III 30 months after implementation). In 2016/17, the impact evaluation (IE) team fielded a follow-up survey in the same subdistricts as the first three waves. A separate report analyzes the quantitative findings of this final survey. During the final survey round, the IE team also collected qualitative data in geographically distinct treatment and control communities to explore two questions. First, are Generasi’s three components—facilitation, community participation, and the target and performance bonus system—functioning as intended? Second, what is the program’s long-term impact on village governance and service delivery, and how can it influence Village Law implementation?