Table 3.
Expected effect of environmental variables on technical inefficiency
| Category | Variable name | Description | Expected effect | Justification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type of client | FSW/Yit | Share of female sex workers (FSW) in total reached population that includes sex workers and men who have sex with men (MSM) | - | It may be easier to reach female sex workers than MSM given the high stigma against MSM in India, then the proportion of FSW in high-risk population may decrease inefficiency |
| Potential scale | Log of estimated population | Estimated number of high-risk population in the district | + or- | Acts as a barrier to NGO expansion since NGOs cannot expand beyond district. However, NGOs located in areas with many high-risk populations could also experience some logistic and management issues |
| Competition | NGOs per district | Number of NGOs in the district | + or- | There could be some positive or negative externalities on the average cost depending on the density of the NGOs per district |
| Solo district | Takes the value of 1 if the NGO is alone to operate in the district and the value of 0 if there is a co-intervention with other AIDS control society intervention or a non-Avahan intervention | + | Competition between NGOs of different projects may reduce inefficiency then NGO operation alone may be positively correlated with inefficiency. NGOs operating alone in a district may also be as a result of the remoteness and poor characteristics of the districts which should also be positively with inefficiency | |
| Purchasing & funding | NGOs per SLP | Number of NGOs supported by the same SLP | + or- | One could argue that SLP that are only contracting with a unique NGO could lack of experience, however if the number of NGOs per SLP is too high, it may be a source of managerial issue. |
| SLP | SLP dummy | + or- | Depending on the SLP characteristics | |
| Mismanagement | NGO replaced | NGO was replaced by another NGO | + | May be a signal for high level of inefficiency. May capture corruption level and a lack of organisation. |
| Maturity | Years in Avahan | Number of years in the Avahan initiative | - | Gain of experience may decrease inefficiency |
| HIV experience | Had HIV experience before entering Avahan | - | NGOs with experience in HIV may have already worked with high-risk groups which could decrease inefficiency | |
| Time | Year dummy | - | Inefficiency is likely to decrease over time |