Decentralization is an important and commonplace type of reform, yet our understanding of its effects remains limited. This paper documents the effects of the 2009–10 wave of district creation in Uganda, which increased the country’s districts by 42 percent, using rich data on subdistrict units to assess the effects of district creation on a broad range of post-decentralization outcomes in a difference-in-differences framework. The effects of decentralization are concentrated in newly split off—rather than split from—districts, and are heterogeneous across outcome types. Newly split-off districts have more per capita frontline workers, but appear to have worse quality infrastructure and lower economic development. The study also presents suggestive evidence that administrative capacity decreases for newly formed districts post-split. These findings demonstrate the importance of considering a broad range of outcomes when thinking about decentralization.

中文翻译：

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记录权力下放：乌干达行政单位扩散的经验证据

权力下放是一种重要且普遍的改革类型，但我们对其影响的了解仍然有限。本文记录了乌干达 2009-10 年地区创建浪潮的影响，该浪潮使该国的地区数量增加了 42%，并利用有关街道单位的丰富数据来评估地区创建对一系列权力下放后成果的影响。差异中的差异框架。权力下放的影响集中在新分离出来的地区（而不是从中分离出来的地区），并且不同结果类型之间存在差异。新分离出来的地区的人均一线工人数量较多，但基础设施质量似乎较差，经济发展水平较低。该研究还提供了暗示性证据，表明分裂后新成立的地区的行政能力有所下降。这些发现证明了在考虑权力下放时考虑广泛结果的重要性。