Publication:
Hierarchy and Information

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dc.contributor.authorSomani, Ravi
dc.contributor.authorRogger, Daniel
dc.date.accessioned2018-11-12T21:40:19Z
dc.date.available2018-11-12T21:40:19Z
dc.date.issued2018-11
dc.description.abstractWhat determines the distribution of information acquired within the hierarchy of a public organization? Without market processes, the generation and absorption of information in bureaucracy relies on individual actors undertaking costly action to acquire it. This paper reports on comparisons between individual-level claims by public officials in the Government of Ethiopia regarding the characteristics of local constituents they serve and objective benchmark data. Public officials make large errors about their constituents' characteristics. The errors of 49 percent of public officials are at least 50 percent of the underlying benchmark data. Given public officials' stated reliance on this information to make public policy decisions, such mistakes imply a substantial misallocation of public resources. The results are consistent with classic theoretical predictions related to the incentives that determine information acquisition in hierarchies, such as de facto control over decision making and an organizational culture of valuing operational information. A field experiment implies that these incentives mediate the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving the information of public-sector agents.en
dc.identifierhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/474061541787560854/Hierarchy-and-Information
dc.identifier.doi10.1596/1813-9450-8644
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/30850
dc.languageEnglish
dc.publisherWorld Bank, Washington, DC
dc.relation.ispartofseriesPolicy Research Working Paper;No. 8644
dc.rightsCC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holderWorld Bank
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo
dc.subjectINFORMATION
dc.subjectBUREAUCRACY
dc.subjectPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
dc.subjectDECENTRALIZATION
dc.subjectOPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT
dc.subjectORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
dc.titleHierarchy and Informationen
dc.typeWorking Paperen
dc.typeDocument de travailfr
dc.typeDocumento de trabajoes
dspace.entity.typePublication
okr.crossref.titleHierarchy And Information
okr.date.disclosure2018-11-09
okr.date.doiregistration2025-04-07T08:15:25.197923Z
okr.date.doiregistration2025-04-08T16:06:53.760114Z
okr.date.doiregistration2025-04-09T02:48:06.703563Z
okr.doctypePublications & Research
okr.doctypePublications & Research::Policy Research Working Paper
okr.docurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/474061541787560854/Hierarchy-and-Information
okr.guid474061541787560854
okr.identifier.doi10.1596/1813-9450-8644
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum090224b086a34a2f_2_0
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum30601499
okr.identifier.reportWPS8644
okr.importedtrueen
okr.language.supporteden
okr.pdfurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/474061541787560854/pdf/WPS8644.pdfen
okr.region.administrativeAfrica
okr.region.countryEthiopia
okr.statistics.combined2096
okr.statistics.dr474061541787560854
okr.statistics.drstats1441
okr.topicPublic Sector Development::Public Sector Administrative and Civil Service Reform
okr.topicPublic Sector Development::Public Sector Management and Reform
okr.topicInformation and Communication Technologies::Information and Records Management
okr.topicInformation and Communication Technologies::Knowledge Management
okr.unitDevelopment Research Group, Development Economics
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relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscoveryc770f6fa-5f94-452b-99e8-4cc7f237c413
relation.isSeriesOfPublication26e071dc-b0bf-409c-b982-df2970295c87
relation.isSeriesOfPublication.latestForDiscovery26e071dc-b0bf-409c-b982-df2970295c87
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