Data, discretion and institutional capacity: Evidence from cash transfers in Pakistan

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Haseeb, Muhammad; Vyborny, Kate
• 署名单位: University of Geneva; Lahore School of Economics; Duke University; Duke University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2021.104535
• 发表日期: 2022
• 关键词: targeting; Cash transfers; favoritism; administrative data

摘要

Administrative data is key to many government functions; but generating and maintaining it is costly and challenging in low-income countries. We study an overhaul of public assistance in Pakistan that created a national database of household assets and used the data to means-test cash transfers, eliminating discretion in their allocation. We use difference-in-differences and regression discontinuity approaches to quantify the effect of this reform. Favoritism and transfers to wealthy households dropped; we estimate that the welfare benefits of the reform were seven times as large as its costs. The reform improved public perceptions of social assistance and helped create a robust institution that survived political transitions. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.