Can information campaigns reduce last mile payment delays in public works programme? Evidence from a field experiment in India

Abstract

Does information dissemination among beneficiaries of welfare programmes mitigate their implementation failures? We present experimental evidence in the context of a rural public works programme in India, where we assess the impact of an intervention that involves dissemination of publicly available micro-level data on last mile delays in payment and programme uptake, along with a set of intermediate outcomes. The findings point to a substantial reduction in last mile payment delays along with improvements in awareness of basic provisions of the programme and process mechanisms while indicating a limited effect on uptake. However, we find a considerable increase in uptake in the subsequent period, which is potentially indicative of an ‘encouragement’ effect through the reduction in last mile delays. A comparatively higher impact on payment delay was found for deprived communities. The findings lay a platform for an innovative information campaign that can be used by government and civil society organizations as part of transparency measures to improve efficiency.

Welfare Reforms and the Leviathan State

“…The expansion of social welfare programs has increased the quality of life of the poor, and made them resilient to multiple, but it has also increased political disquiets around its form, focus, and scope. Political debates have 57 Das et al (2021), in an experimental study, show that providing personalized communications and community canvassing-disseminating publicly available information on the provisions of MGNREGS, workers listed, beneficiary wages, and date of receiptincreases the take-up of work and reduces payment delays through increased accountability of local implementing institutions. An experimental study in Indonesia also shows that once the beneficiary lists and their entitlements were made public (through loudspeaker announcements and listing on the wall in the village), it created greater private information to seek welfare benefits and reduced the incentive of the local elite to discriminate against a person or a group (Banerjee et al 2018).…”

Effectiveness of MGNREGS in COVID-19 Lockdown of 2020: A Case of Selected Villages of Palghar District, Maharashtra

“…timely release of wages and reducing the leakages in the process. Moreover, Das et al, (2021) found that personalised information of wage credit listing to beneficiaries' bank accounts, reduced last mile payment delays. Here GRS (Gram Rojgar Sevak) and Sarpanch can contribute to information dissemination of not only wage credit listing but also beneficiaries' rights for the better implementation of the programme.…”