When are Experiments Corrupt?

Between 2010 and 2011, the UK's Department for International|Development (DFID) funded a large-scale experiment on Kenyan|schools. The policy experiment tested the effects of cutting|teachers' salaries and hiring them on short-term contracts, but the|intervention failed after sustained opposition from teacher unions|and parent associations. This article critically revisits the narrative of|how this experiment was designed, implemented and interpreted,|finding evidence that the experiment violated empirical logic. It|examines whether the theory of neopatrimonialism can explain the|ways in which vested interests may have undermined the empirical|logic of the experiment. By doing so, the analysis tests the|explanatory utility of neopatrimonialism, and casts light on the|conditions under which policy experiments in Africa may be antiempirical.