in the same segments of the population across time. The maps<sup>7</sup> in Figure 1 show the mean percentage of respondents for each of Sierra Leone’s 165 chiefdoms who view local government councillors as trustworthy. The number of chiefdoms in which the average percentage of respondents who view local government councillors as trustworthy grew from three in 2007 to twelve in 2008.

# **4.2.2 Explanatory Variables**

# **Local Government Service Provision: Health and Education**

The 2004 Local Government Act devolved to the 19 local councils (LC) a range of sectoral fiscal and administrative functions and responsibilities related to basic service delivery. While the LGA established a formal deadline (2008) for the devolution of functional responsibilities to LCs, in practice, the devolution has been slower than expected, with varying degrees of responsiveness from central Ministries and government agencies. As of 2011, 34 out of 80 functions remain to be devolved in accordance with the law (Larizza and Glynn, 2011, pp. 14-15). In the case of health care and the registration of births and deaths, the functions have been clearly devolved to LCs since 2005.

Community leaders and household respondents were asked a set of questions about the quality of health care. The community survey includes a question about whether the health clinic in the community has a functioning refrigerator, which is a proxy for the quality of health infrastructure. As the maps in Figure 2 show, the percentage of health clinics with a functioning refrigerator grew between 2007 and 2008. We include an indicator of the type of health facility in the communities — whether the health facility is run by the government, a private group or a mission or NGO. We include a measure of the level of access to the health clinic or hospital; the survey asked community leaders if individuals can get treatment at the clinic or hospital even if they only have a little money. We also include an individual-level measure of the quality of health care. Respondents were asked: In general, are you satisfied with 1) the clinic/hospital building and equipment, 2) the staff at the clinic/hospital and 3) with the care you receive at the clinic/hospital? We summed the number of items to which the the respondent answered “yes” and created an index that captures satisfaction with health care delivery.

In 2005, the registration of births and deaths was devolved to the local council. If anyone in a respondent’s household had given birth in the past year, the interviewer asked whether the newborn received a birth certificate. If anyone in a respondent’s household passed away within the past two years, the respondent was asked if the household received a death

> 7Our Chiefdom shapefiles rely on Chiefdom boundaries established for the 2004 Census of Household and Population. In 2006, the Electoral Commission reviewed the division of Sierra Leone into constituencies, in accordance with the article 38 of 1991 Constitution which states that such review has to take place at intervals of not less than five and not more than seven years (Government of Sierra Leone, 1991). We believe that the Chiefdom boundaries might have been modified as result of this review, and Chiefdom numbers reduced to 149. We are in the process of validating this hypothesis by checking official Parliamentary Acts and getting access to updated Chiefdom shapefiles.

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