Access to education and health facilities varies considerably across the countries
and regions of South Asia. This paper surveys the theoretical and empirical literature
on collective action and public goods provision. The role of group influence,
heterogeneity within groups, and group size is explored in detail. The paper then
discusses the impact of committed leaders on public goods provision, together with
the factors involved in sustaining that impact, and examines how these insights can
be applied in analyzing issues related to the quality of public goods provision. The
growing role of the private sector in providing basic education services in South
Asia is briefly surveyed.