Data and Code for: Making Bricks from Straw: Resources and Productivity in Health Care

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Edward Okeke, RAND

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  Data_Files 10/17/2025 11:05:AM
  Do_Files 10/17/2025 11:08:AM
  Other 01/12/2026 10:58:AM
  Replication 10/17/2025 11:14:AM
Master.do text/plain 4.9 KB 01/12/2026 05:49:AM
Readme.pdf application/pdf 145.6 KB 01/12/2026 05:52:AM

Project Citation: 

Okeke, Edward. Data and Code for: Making Bricks from Straw: Resources and Productivity in Health Care. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2026. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2026-03-03. https://doi.org/10.3886/E238986V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary Why do health facilities in developing countries do so poorly? This paper examines the role of financial constraints. I describe an experiment in which we surprised health workers in randomly selected public health clinics in Nigeria with a N600,000 grant paid out in installments over one year. Its administration was left entirely to health workers. I show that the award led to large productivity gains. Using expenditure data combined with novel textual data I provide an explanation for these effects. I show that the award increased investments in physical and human capital, led to lower prices for patients and inspired health workers to do better.
Funding Sources:  View help for Funding Sources Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (R01HD090231)

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms grants; health care facilities; productivity; quality; health care delivery
JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      I11 Analysis of Health Care Markets
      I15 Health and Economic Development
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage Nigeria
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 2018 – 2022
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) administrative records data; experimental data; observational data; survey data; text


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Published Versions

V1 [2026-03-03]

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