Are They Really Being Served? Assessing Effective Infrastructure Access and Quality in 15 Kenyan Cities
This paper proposes a framework that examines three levels of access to infrastructure -- nominal, effective, and quality-adjusted access. Most conventional indicators measure nominal access --whether a household has physical access to a service in...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/536111550591449854/Are-They-Really-Being-Served-Assessing-Effective-Infrastructure-Access-and-Quality-in-15-Kenyan-Cities http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31313 |
| Summary: | This paper proposes a framework that
examines three levels of access to infrastructure --
nominal, effective, and quality-adjusted access. Most
conventional indicators measure nominal access --whether a
household has physical access to a service in or near the
house. By contrast, effective access incorporates
functionality and use of service, and quality-adjusted
access raises the bar by incorporating quality metrics. The
paper illustrates the analytical utility of this conceptual
framework by deploying data from a survey of 14,200
households in 15 Kenyan cities in 2012-13. First, the
analysis finds that these cities fall far short of
delivering universal access to basic infrastructure. Second,
for most services there a large gap -- 3 to 41 percentage
points—between nominal and effective access. When the bar is
raised to include quality of service, the drop-off in the
proportion of those with access is even more dramatic. These
findings suggest that conventional nominal measures
overreport the level of service in urban communities, and
that current approaches to infrastructure delivery might be
enhancing availability of a service without ensuring that
the service is usable -- that is, functional, reliable and
affordable. Third, there is an infrastructure access gap
between nonpoor and poor households, as well as formal and
informal settlements. Fourth, hedonic regression analysis
reveals that four services -- electricity, water, toilets,
and garbage collection—are associated with higher rents. The
analysis has broader implications for understanding and
measuring service access. It raises important questions as
global discussions turn to indicators for the Sustainable
Development Goals. |
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