In some developing countries, non-state actors have effectively replaced or overshadow the
state as providers of social welfare. In this paper, we explore whether religious or other organizational
types exhibit a “welfare advantage,” or a demonstrated superiority in service delivery,
as some accounts suggest. Based on a preliminary study in Lebanon, we find evidence that
secular NGOs exhibit superior health care quality but little support for a faith-based welfare
advantage, a counterintuitive finding in Lebanon where religious actors dominate politics and
command the most extensive resources. Our tentative explanation for this finding emphasizes
the ways in which the sociopolitical context shapes the choices of qualified providers to select
into particular organizations and why citizens might perceive some providers as superior, irrespective
of the actual quality of services delivered. A scale-up of the project, which is currently
in the field, tests multiple hypotheses about the sociopolitical determinants of service quality.
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