Data and Code for: Improving Last-Mile Service Delivery using Phone-Based Monitoring

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Karthik Muralidharan, UC San Diego; Paul Niehaus, University of California-San Diego; Sandip Sukhtankar, University of Virginia; Jeffrey Weaver, University of Southern California

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
Code			04/23/2020 03:36:PM
Input			04/23/2020 03:50:PM
Output			04/23/2020 03:33:PM
Master.do	text/x-stata-syntax	2.2 KB	04/23/2020 12:02:PM
ReadMe.pdf	application/pdf	424.2 KB	05/28/2020 09:16:PM

Project Citation:

Muralidharan, Karthik, Niehaus, Paul, Sukhtankar, Sandip, and Weaver, Jeffrey. Data and Code for: Improving Last-Mile Service Delivery using Phone-Based Monitoring. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2021. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2021-03-16. https://doi.org/10.3886/E117431V1

Project Description

Summary: Improving "last-mile" public-service delivery is a recurring challenge in developing countries. Could the widespread adoption of mobile phones provide a scalable, cost-effective means for improvement? We use a large-scale experiment to evaluate the impact of phone-based monitoring on a program that transferred nearly a billion dollars to 5.7 million Indian farmers. In randomly-selected jurisdictions, officials were informed that program implementation would be measured via calls with beneficiaries. This led to a 7.8% reduction in the number of farmers who did not receive their transfers. The program was highly cost-effective, costing 3.6 cents for each additional dollar delivered.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: State Capacity; Service Delivery; Mobile Phones; India

JEL Classification:
      D73 Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
      H53 National Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
      O33 Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

Geographic Coverage: Telangana, India

Time Period(s): 5/8/2018 – 9/26/2018

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Published Versions

V1 [2021-03-16]

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