The Power of Information: Evidence from a Newspaper Campaign to Reduce Capture
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...
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, D.C.
2013
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/03/3056020/power-information-evidence-newspaper-campaign-reduce-capture http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14448 |
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okr-10986-144482021-04-23T14:03:20Z The Power of Information: Evidence from a Newspaper Campaign to Reduce Capture Reinikka, Ritva Svensson, Jakob ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACCOUNTABILITY AUDITING CLINICS CORRUPTION DATA COLLECTION EDUCATION OFFICERS EDUCATION SECTOR ELITES ENROLLMENT GOVERNMENT PRIMARY SCHOOLS HEAD TEACHERS INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK INTERVIEWS JOURNALISTS LET LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANAGERS MASS MEDIA MEDIA FREEDOM PAPERS PARENTS POLITICAL ACCOUNTABILITY POLITICAL ACTIVITIES POLITICAL PARTIES POLITICAL SYSTEMS PRIMARY SCHOOLS PROGRAMS PUBLIC ACCESS PUBLIC EXPENDITURE PUBLIC FUNDS PUBLIC SECTOR QUANTITATIVE DATA RURAL LOCATIONS SCHOOL MANAGEMENT SCHOOL QUALITY SCHOOLING SCHOOLS SERVICE DELIVERY SERVICE DELIVERY CHAIN SERVICE PROVIDERS TEACHER TEST SCORES TEXTBOOKS UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION VILLAGE WORKERS ACCESS TO INFORMATION PUBLIC AWARENESS CORRUPT PRACTICES PUBLIC EXPENDITURES POLITICAL FACTORS KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION EMPOWERMENT 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. 2013-07-10T19:06:06Z 2013-07-10T19:06:06Z 2003-12 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/03/3056020/power-information-evidence-newspaper-campaign-reduce-capture http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14448 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No.3239 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, D.C. Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research Africa Uganda |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACCOUNTABILITY AUDITING CLINICS CORRUPTION DATA COLLECTION EDUCATION OFFICERS EDUCATION SECTOR ELITES ENROLLMENT GOVERNMENT PRIMARY SCHOOLS HEAD TEACHERS INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK INTERVIEWS JOURNALISTS LET LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANAGERS MASS MEDIA MEDIA FREEDOM PAPERS PARENTS POLITICAL ACCOUNTABILITY POLITICAL ACTIVITIES POLITICAL PARTIES POLITICAL SYSTEMS PRIMARY SCHOOLS PROGRAMS PUBLIC ACCESS PUBLIC EXPENDITURE PUBLIC FUNDS PUBLIC SECTOR QUANTITATIVE DATA RURAL LOCATIONS SCHOOL MANAGEMENT SCHOOL QUALITY SCHOOLING SCHOOLS SERVICE DELIVERY SERVICE DELIVERY CHAIN SERVICE PROVIDERS TEACHER TEST SCORES TEXTBOOKS UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION VILLAGE WORKERS ACCESS TO INFORMATION PUBLIC AWARENESS CORRUPT PRACTICES PUBLIC EXPENDITURES POLITICAL FACTORS KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION EMPOWERMENT |
| spellingShingle |
ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACCOUNTABILITY AUDITING CLINICS CORRUPTION DATA COLLECTION EDUCATION OFFICERS EDUCATION SECTOR ELITES ENROLLMENT GOVERNMENT PRIMARY SCHOOLS HEAD TEACHERS INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK INTERVIEWS JOURNALISTS LET LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANAGERS MASS MEDIA MEDIA FREEDOM PAPERS PARENTS POLITICAL ACCOUNTABILITY POLITICAL ACTIVITIES POLITICAL PARTIES POLITICAL SYSTEMS PRIMARY SCHOOLS PROGRAMS PUBLIC ACCESS PUBLIC EXPENDITURE PUBLIC FUNDS PUBLIC SECTOR QUANTITATIVE DATA RURAL LOCATIONS SCHOOL MANAGEMENT SCHOOL QUALITY SCHOOLING SCHOOLS SERVICE DELIVERY SERVICE DELIVERY CHAIN SERVICE PROVIDERS TEACHER TEST SCORES TEXTBOOKS UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION VILLAGE WORKERS ACCESS TO INFORMATION PUBLIC AWARENESS CORRUPT PRACTICES PUBLIC EXPENDITURES POLITICAL FACTORS KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION EMPOWERMENT Reinikka, Ritva Svensson, Jakob The Power of Information: Evidence from a Newspaper Campaign to Reduce Capture |
| geographic_facet |
Africa Uganda |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No.3239 |
| description |
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. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| author |
Reinikka, Ritva Svensson, Jakob |
| author_facet |
Reinikka, Ritva Svensson, Jakob |
| author_sort |
Reinikka, Ritva |
| title |
The Power of Information: Evidence from a Newspaper Campaign to Reduce Capture |
| title_short |
The Power of Information: Evidence from a Newspaper Campaign to Reduce Capture |
| title_full |
The Power of Information: Evidence from a Newspaper Campaign to Reduce Capture |
| title_fullStr |
The Power of Information: Evidence from a Newspaper Campaign to Reduce Capture |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The Power of Information: Evidence from a Newspaper Campaign to Reduce Capture |
| title_sort |
power of information: evidence from a newspaper campaign to reduce capture |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, D.C. |
| publishDate |
2013 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/03/3056020/power-information-evidence-newspaper-campaign-reduce-capture http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14448 |
| _version_ |
1764430038591078400 |