The Institute for Empirical Research in Political Economy (IREEP) hosted a meeting with Chiefs of Staff of Beninese City Councils in March 9 at the campus of the African School of Economics (ASE). It was a workshop on the ongoing research project “Local Governance”, which discussed the specific topic of corruption in local governments. The question that guided the session was “Can participatory management increase the performance and reduce corruption in local governments?”

The presentations were made by Prof. Leonard Wantchekon, ASE Founder and President, and André Gueguehoun, Associate Researcher at IREEP. A total of 20 chiefs of staff attended the meeting whose agenda focused on three points: the presentation of the project, the methodology of the study and the planning of activities related to the project. After the presentations, debate and working sessions, local officials expressed their satisfaction with the event. They thanked IREEP and its staff members, acknowledging that this is not the first time the Institute shared its expertise. They also expressed their wishes to see this experience extended to the rest of municipalities.