Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/229422 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
WIDER Working Paper No. 2021/21
Publisher: 
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki
Abstract: 
Does information dissemination among beneficiaries of welfare programmes mitigate their implementation failures? We present experimental evidence in the context of a rural public works programme in India, where we assess the impact of an intervention that involves dissemination of publicly available micro-level data on last mile delays in payment and programme uptake, along with a set of intermediate outcomes. The findings point to a substantial reduction in last mile payment delays along with improvements in awareness of basic provisions of the programme and process mechanisms while indicating a limited effect on uptake. However, we find a considerable increase in uptake in the subsequent period, which is potentially indicative of an 'encouragement' effect through the reduction in last mile delays. A comparatively higher impact on payment delay was found for deprived communities. The findings lay a platform for an innovative information campaign that can be used by government and civil society organizations as part of transparency measures to improve efficiency.
Subjects: 
payment delay
implementation
information
randomization
welfare programme
JEL: 
I30
I38
H75
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-92-9256-955-6
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-sa 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.