Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/208171 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
IDB Working Paper Series No. IDB-WP-983
Publisher: 
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Washington, DC
Abstract: 
Citizens confront multiple challenges when attempting to access public services. This article focuses on an aspect yet unaddressed by existing literature on administrative burdens: the complexity of the written language used by government agencies in Latin America. It presents an impact evaluation of the Lenguaje Claro Program of Colombia's National Planning Department. A randomized control trial compared two versions of a letter - the original and one with plain language - used by the property department of the city of Bogota. The study shows that clarifying content via modifications in language, content order, and formatting can reduce citizen's learning costs. Plain language thus has positive effects for both individuals and public institutions. A complementary perception survey revealed that there is significant room for additional simplification, as both the original and the plain language letter were largely poorly rated by citizens.
Subjects: 
administrative burden
language simplification
plain language
public services
red tape
JEL: 
C93
H11
H83
Z13
Z18
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-nd Logo
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.