Publication: The Power of Information: Evidence from a Newspaper Campaign to Reduce Capture
Date
2003-12
ISSN
Published
2003-12
Author(s)
Reinikka, Ritva
Svensson, Jakob
Abstract
The authors exploit an unusual policy
experiment to evaluate the effects of increased public
access to information as a tool to reduce capture and
corruption of public funds. In the late 1990s, the Ugandan
government initiated a newspaper campaign to boost
schools' and parents' ability to monitor local
officials' handling of a large school-grant program.
The results were striking: capture was reduced from 80
percent in 1995 to less than 20 percent in 2001. The authors
use distance to the nearest newspaper outlet as an
instrument for exposure to the campaign. Proximity to a
newspaper outlet is positively correlated with the head
teachers' knowledge about rules governing the grant
program and the timing of releases of funds from the center,
but uncorrelated with test scores of general ability. A
strong (reduced-form) relationship exists between proximity
to a newspaper outlet and reduction in capture of school
funds since the newspaper campaign started. This pattern
contrasts sharply with the outcomes in the five-year period
prior to the campaign. Instrumenting for head teachers'
knowledge about the grant program, the authors find that
public access to information is a powerful deterrent to
capture at the local level.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Reinikka, Ritva; Svensson, Jakob. 2003. The Power of Information: Evidence from a Newspaper Campaign to Reduce Capture. Policy Research Working Paper;No.3239. © World Bank, Washington, D.C.. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14448 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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