Marcos Vera, Professor of the Economics Department at the University College London, presented his article "Managerial Incentives in Public Service Delivery. Evidence from School-Based Nutrition Programs in Rural China" at a seminar organized by the Navarra Center for International Development.

The research that has been carried out thanks to the collaboration with Stanford University,  University of Maryland and Chinese Academy of Sciences was to study the effectiveness of incentives and grants for school principals in rural areas of China. He, specifically, focused on the battle against anemia and counted with the participation of 170 school principals.

The grants were non-binding: the funds could be used for any activity and not just one program in order to improve the nutrition and reduce anemia among students. The grants were given in two fees, one at the beginning and the other one in the middle.

More efficiency with lower grants

Data showed that incentives were more effective when school principals received fewer grants. According to this, the efficiency would decrease considerably when the grant was greater. The researcher explained that these results may be in conflict with the perception of incentives.

"Overall, our results suggest that it could alter how tasks or work results are involved in the program attributed to the school administrators," he said. Also, he points out that Directors may be less interested in implementing them due to the risk of failing and affecting their job careers.

Finally, Vera emphasized that "the education system in developing countries should be more prepared than the health services."