Several countries in sub-Saharan Africa have implemented policies to remove or reduce user fees. Our aim was to identify criteria guiding such decisions among national policy entrepreneurs, those who link up problem definition, solution development and political processes.

We administered a best–worst scaling (BWS) experiment to 89 policy entrepreneurs, asking them to identify the most and the least important criteria on a series of predefined sets. Sets were compiled using a Balance Incomplete Block Design which generated random combinations of all 11 criteria included in the experiment. In turn, those had emerged from a prior set of focus group discussions organized among policy entrepreneurs. Ordered logit models were used to investigate the value of single criteria as well as heterogeneity of preferences.

Political commitment was identified as the most important criterion guiding policy decisions on user fee abolition or reduction to the overall sample, but particularly so for more experienced respondents aged over 50 years. International pressure and donor money were identified as least important while equity and institutional capacity were deemed of relatively little importance. Respondents more involved in advising on policy than on formulating policy rated economic issues such as financial sustainability and cost-effectiveness as less important.

It is feasible to apply BWS experiments in low-income countries, although whether the technique can be adjusted to elicit preferences among non-literate respondents in these settings is unclear.