Assessment of Decentralized Service Delivery Arrangements and Institutional Performance: the ...

642 Pages·2013·6.45 MB·English

Assessment of Decentralized Service Delivery Arrangements and
Institutional Performance: the Case of Pakistan Local Government
Reforms

By
SEEMAB ARA FAROOQI

A Thesis Submitted to the School of Management in Fulfilment of the Requirement for
the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Stirling Management School
University of Stirling

April 2013

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DECLARATION

This thesis is submitted in the fulfilment of the degree of Philosophy (Management) at
the University of Stirling, United Kingdom. I declare that this thesis is based on my
original work except for the quotations and citations which I have duly acknowledged. I
also declare that this thesis has not been previously or concurrently submitted, either in
whole or part, for any other qualification at the University of Stirling or other
institution. I am responsible for any errors and omissions present in the thesis.

Signed
Seemab Ara Farooqi
April 2013

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Acknowledgements
Alhamdulillah, praise be to Allah, the Most Compassionate and the Most Merciful, for
giving me strength and blessings to reach the ‘finishing line’ of this Doctoral study. On
this journey, there were many individuals who supported and helped me throughout this
process. I may not be able to mention all of them here.
I wish to express my warmest appreciation to the late Professor Rob Ball, University of
Stirling, for the invaluable guidance and support he has given me during the course of
this PhD. He was a great supervisor, a genuine and kind hearted man. I started my
journey with him and throughout this process, his constant words of encouragement
were a great source of inspiration and self-confidence. His belief in me kept me
working hard. It was a great honour to work with him. I wish to express my gratitude to
my Supervisor, Dr. Tom Forbes, for his invaluable advice, support and encouragement
to give this thesis its final shape. He made this process a stimulating and rewarding
experience. I would also like to thank Striling Management School for their support.
I would also like to express my gratitude to the local authorities, the managers of
service delivery organizations, and NGO representatives, who gave their valuable time
and shared their experiences for my research. Special thanks go to the Managing
Directors of WASA, Dr. Arshad and Zahid Aziz, for their cooperation, as well as to
Major Wasiq, for his efforts to organize my meetings with key individuals. I would
also like to thank the University of the Punjab, in particular, the Institute of
Administrative Sciences and the Vice Chancellor for granting me a scholarship to
pursue this research.
Lastly, I am particularly grateful to my husband, Qamar, for his love and sacrifice, and
to my children Nadir, Nayab and wee Larraib, for their understanding and support. I
could not have done this thesis without them around. Thanks to my mother who always
believed in me and prayed for my success and happy life. My sincerest thanks go to my
friends for their laughs and support. Without you all this thesis would not have been
possible. You will always be in my heart and I will always pray that Allah Almighty
may reward you for your kindness.
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Abstract
This thesis seeks to understand the relationship between decentralized service delivery
arrangements and the institutional performance of local government in Pakistan. This is
achieved by examining the structures and processes associated with local governance,
and situating public sector organizations in their wider context.
The key aim of this thesis was to empirically evaluate the relationship between
decentralization and institutional performance. The thesis contends that problem of
service delivery can only be understood by examining the whole system of service
delivery. Although, the focus of the research was on public sector management,
however, it is argued that public sector organizations cannot be separated from their
political environment. To address this concern, the thesis developed a conceptual
framework based on three theoretical perspectives; the economic, political and New
Public Management. Each perspective focused on a different level of analysis and
identified a different way of explaining the phenomenon of decentralization and its
impact on institutional performance.
The study utilised a comprehensive research methodology to study the link between
decentralization and performance through a multiple case study approach. The main
empirical elements of the research were a community survey of two communities in two
local authorities, an organizational survey of two sectors - education and water and
sanitation. Detailed semi-structured interviews were undertaken with multiple
stakeholders at various levels of service delivery. The research findings indicate that
there is a relationship between decentralization and institutional performance; however
the contextual environment plays a significant role in affecting the performance of
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service provision. The empirical findings indicate that decentralization reforms in
developing countries remain focused on structural decentralization and need strong
political and bureaucratic commitment for real autonomy to be transferred down the
hierarchy. One implication of this research is that it provided a comprehensive
assessment of the decentralized service delivery model in Pakistan and identified the
nature of reforms developing countries are taking up and the constraints on public sector
organizations, and hence contributed to the emerging literature on public management
reforms in developing countries (McCourt and Martin 2001; McCourt 2008).

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LIST OF ACRONYMS
AAS Adopt A school System
ADB Asian Development Bank
ASB Anjuman Samajhi Bahbood
CARE Cooperation for Advancement, Rehabilitation and Education
(TRUST)
CCB Citizen Community Board
CDG City District Government
CDGF City District Government Faisalabad
CDGL City District Government Lahore
CPP Changa Pani Program (Partnership model in WSS)
DEO District Education Officer
DDEO Deputy District Education Officer
DFID Department for International Development
DN District Nazim Head of the Local Government
DMD Deputy Managing Director
DMO District Monitoring Officer
ED Education Department
EDO Executive District Officer
FDA Faisalabad Development Authority
HUD & PHED Housing, Urban Development and Public Health Engineering
Department
LG Local Government
LGO Local Government Ordinance
LDA Lahore Development Authority
IOL Institute Of Learning
IPFD Infrastructure Project Development Facility
ITA Idare-Taleem-O-Agahi
MD Managing Director
MOWP Ministry of Water and Power
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NCHD National Commission for Human Development
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
NRW Non-Revenue Water
NFC National Finance Commission
O&M Operation and Maintenance
PCP Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy
PEF Punjab Education Foundation
PFC Provincial Finance Commission
P&D Planning and Development
SC School Council
SIP School Improvement Program
SPU Strategic Policy unit
TMA Tehsil/Town Municipal administration
TMO Tehsil Municipal Officer
UC Union Council
USAID United States Agency for International Development
UIPT Urban Immovable Property Tax
WSS Water and Sanitation Sector
WASA Water and Sanitation Agency
WASCO Water and Sanitation Company

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART 1 (CHAPTER 1) 2
CHAPTER 1 2
1.1 INTRODUCTION 2
1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF STUDY 4
1.3 THE STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS 5
1.4 BACK GROUND TO THE THESIS: NATIONAL CONTEXT 8
1.4.1 Background of Devolution 8
1.4.2 Structure of Local Government 10
1.1.1 The responsibilities assigned to Urban/Rural Councils Under the Local
Government Ordinance 1979 and BDO, 1959 11
1.1.2 Impact of Devolution on Local Governance 13
1.1.3 Decentralized Service Delivery Framework under the Devolution Plan
2000 14
1.4.3 Political Reforms 15
1.4.4 Administrative Reforms 18
1.4.5 Fiscal Reforms 19
1.5 Conclusion 24

PART 2 (CHAPTER 2, 3 & 4) 27
CHAPTER 2 31
2.1 INTRODUCTION 31
2.2 DEFINING POLITICAL/DEMOCRATIC DECENTRALIZATION 32
2.3 THEORETICAL CASE FOR DEMOCRATIC LOCAL GOVERNMENT 32
2.4 PARTICIPATION, ACCOUNTABILITY AND RESPONSIVENESS 34
2.4.1 Responsiveness 39
2.4.2 Accountability 40
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2.5 REVIEWING EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE 41
2.5.1 Politics of Decentralization Reforms 41
2.5.2 Participation, Accountability and Performance 43
2.5.3 African Case Studies 50
2.5.4 Asian Case Studies 55
2.5.5 Latin American Case Studies 58
2.5.6 Conclusion 59
2.6 CONCLUSION 61
CHAPTER 3 63
3.1 INTRODUCTION 64
3.2 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 64
3.3 ASSIGNING RESPONSIBILITIES AND CORRESPONDING
RESOURCES 67
3.3.1 Tax Assignment 68
3.3.2 Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers (IGFTs) 69
3.3.3 Design of Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers (IGFTs) 71
4.1.1 User Charges 77
3.4 LIMITATIONS OF THE FISCAL FEDERALISM MODEL 78
3.5 ACCOUNTABILITY AND PERFORMANCE 79
3.6 FACTORS AFFECTING FISCAL DECENTRALIZATION 81
3.7 CONCLUSION 86
CHAPTER 4 88
4.1 INTRODUCTION 89
4.2 DE-CONSTRUCTING THE CONCEPT OF DECENTRALISATION 90
4.3 PUBLIC MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE ON DECENTRALIZATION 91
4.4 MANAGEMENT DECENTRALIZATION 96
4.4.1 Management Decentralization and Performance 97
4.4.2 Selected Service Delivery Techniques 100
4.5 APPLICABILITY OF NPM REFORMS TO DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES 122
4.6 CONCLUSION 124
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4.7 REFINING THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK: INTEGRATING THE
PERSPECTIVES 127
4.8 OPERATIONALIZING THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 131
4.8.1 Defining Performance 132
4.8.2 Defining Performance 133
PART 3 (CHAPTER 5 & 6) 141
CHAPTER 5 142
5.1 INTRODUCTION 143
5.2 OVERVIEW OF PHILOSOPHICAL ASSUMPTIONS OF RESEARCH 143
5.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH METHODS, APPROACH TO
RESEARCH, STRUCTURED VS UNSTRUCTURED DESIGN OF
RESEARCH 148
5.4 DESIGNING THE RESEARCH STRATEGY OF THE STUDY 153
5.5 SELECTION OF A CASE STUDY AS RESEARCH STRATEGY 155
5.6 Quality in Case Study Methods: Significance of Validity and Reliability 157
5.6.1 Construct Validity 158
5.6.2 Internal Validity 159
5.6.3 External Validity 159
5.6.4 Reliability 160
5.7 COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY RESEARCH DESIGN 160
5.7.1 Overview of the Research Design of the study 164
5.8 IDENTIFYING CASES AND FIELD SITES 165
5.9 OTHER CONSIDERATIONS IN THE CHOICE OF CASE STUDIES AND
SAMPLE 165
5.9.1 Ensuring Quality in Case Study Research 166
5.10 CONCLUSION 168
CHAPTER 6 168
6.1 SELECTION OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES 169
6.1.1 Case Study 1- City District Government Faisalabad (CDGF) 169
6.1.2 Case Study 2: City District Government Lahore (CDGL) 170
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