Evaluating Governance Reform in Nepal

In 2015 Nepal adopted a new constitution designed to have the country change its governmental structure to have three levels of government: national, provincial, and municipal. For the first time local governments will have decision-making power for their local communities. The Provincial and Local Government Support Program (PLGSP) is a program designed to build capacity of local governments in Nepal to effectively use their new power and run their communities well. This study will evaluate the PLGSP using a case-control design (observing an and measuring metrics over time to see what changes caused different outcomes), before and after surveys, and a synthetic control model (using statistics to learn what may have happened if the PLGSP never happened). Households in 90 communities will be interviewed before PLGSP starts, and 2 years later. We will use this information to estimate the effectiveness of the PLGSP.