Service Delivery versus Moonlighting: Using Data from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Senegal

Abstract Striking the proper balance between allocating resources into service delivery for low income which benefits society, and moonlighting elsewhere for additional income, is a challenge. A model is developed for how this balance is struck. When the moonlighting production function is concave, common with good governmental monitoring, an internal equilibrium exists. Otherwise either service delivery or moonlighting arises. The model is applied to teachers and healthcare workers within education and healthcare. Survey data from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Senegal show classroom absence for teachers at 29–52.5 per cent, and facility absence for healthcare workers 20–46 per cent. The model is calibrated against the empirics to assess and quantify the factors driving such results. The factors are the shape of the moonlighting production function which governs alternatives to service delivery, the unit cost of service delivery relative to moonlighting for teachers and healthcare workers, and the salaries for service delivery.