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Data and policy decisions: Experimental evidence from Pakistan

Callen, Michael and Gulzar, Saad and Hasanain, Ali and Khan, Muhammad Yasir and Rezaee, Arman (2020) Data and policy decisions: Experimental evidence from Pakistan. Journal of Development Economics, 146.

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Abstract

We evaluate a program in Pakistan that equips government health inspectors with a smartphone app which channels data on rural clinics to senior policy makers. The system led to rural clinics being inspected 104% more often after 6 months, but only 43.8% more often after a year, with the latter estimate not attaining significance at conventional levels. There is also no clear evidence that the increase in inspections led to increases in general staff attendance. In addition, we test whether senior officials act on the information provided by the system. Focusing only on districts where the app is deployed, we find that highlighting poorly performing facilities on a dashboard viewed by supervisors raises doctor attendance by 75%. Our results indicate that technology may be able to mobilize data to useful effect, even in low capacity settings.


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Details

Item Type: Article
Status: Published
Creators/Authors:
CreatorsEmailPitt UsernameORCID
Callen, Michael
Gulzar, Saad
Hasanain, Ali
Khan, Muhammad Yasiryasir.khan@berkeley.edumyk170000-0001-8685-9892
Rezaee, Arman
Date: 2020
Date Type: Publication
Journal or Publication Title: Journal of Development Economics
Volume: 146
Publisher: Elsevier
DOI or Unique Handle: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2020.102523
Schools and Programs: Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Economics > Economics Working Papers
Refereed: Yes
Article Type: Research Article
Date Deposited: 06 May 2022 18:54
Last Modified: 06 May 2022 18:54
URI: http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/42935

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