Data and Policy Decisions: Experimental Evidence from Pakistan

Michael Callen, Saad Gulzar, Syed Ali Hasanain, Muhammad Khan and Arman B. Rezaee

No 27678, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

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

JEL-codes: C93 D02 D73 K42 O17 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea
Note: DEV POL
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Published as Michael Callen & Saad Gulzar & Ali Hasanain & Muhammad Yasir Khan & Arman Rezaee, 2020. "Data and policy decisions: Experimental evidence from Pakistan," Journal of Development Economics, vol 146.

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