Efficiency in Reaching the Millennium Development Goals (World Bank Working Papers)

To reach Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) countries (or states or provinces within countries) have two options: increasing these inputs used to "produce" the outcomes measured by the MDGs, or increasing the efficiency with which inputs are used. This study looks at whether improvements in efficiency could bring gains in outcomes. Two chapters use world panel data to analyze country level efficiency in improving education, health and GDP (and thereby poverty) indicators. Two other chapters use province and state level data to analyze within-country efficiency in Argentina and Mexico for improving education and health outcomes. Together, the four chapters suggest that apart from increasing inputs, it is necessary to improve efficiency in order to reach the MDGs. While this conclusion is hardly surprising, the analysis helps to quantify how much progress could be achieved through better efficiency, and to some extent, how efficiency itself could be improved.