---
title: "The Agency Premium"
number: 14
statement: "Do community-led programs outperform top-down ones on the same outcome, and by how much?"
progress: "Head-to-head comparisons of community-led and expert-led versions of the same intervention, in several contexts."
conditions: ["missing-voice"]
status: open
bounty: "Unfunded. The Question Bounties program will attach prizes once it is funded."
---

## Why it matters

The case for [listening to the people served](/diagnosis/missing-voice/) is strong in principle. A measured premium would make it impossible to ignore, and a measured cost would show where expertise should lead.

## Where to start

Look for interventions that have been delivered both ways, such as community-driven development programs evaluated against centrally planned ones.