'Come and get it': distributional biases in social service delivery systems.

Develops three connected propositions. First, the distance they must travel disadvantages poor users of social services, leading to their reduced utilization of those services. Second, publicly-provided services tend to be geographically centralized, and hence distant from users, whereas publicly-funded services provided through private suppliers tend to be geographically decentralized. Third, publicly-provided services can be decentralized and will then locate nearer the poor. The conclusion is that the best way to increase utilization of social services by the poor is to decentralize public provision rather than contracting out to private suppliers. -Authors