The Power of Information:Evidence from a Newspaper Campaign to Reduce Capture

Reinikka, Ritva ; Svensson, Jakob

World Bank, Washington, D.C.

关键词: ACCESS TO INFORMATION;    ACCOUNTABILITY;    AUDITING;    CLINICS;    CORRUPTION;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-3239
RP-ID  :  WPS3239

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The authors exploit an unusual policyexperiment to evaluate the effects of increased publicaccess to information as a tool to reduce capture andcorruption of public funds. In the late 1990s, the Ugandangovernment initiated a newspaper campaign to boostschools' and parents' ability to monitor localofficials' handling of a large school-grant program.The results were striking: capture was reduced from 80percent in 1995 to less than 20 percent in 2001. The authorsuse distance to the nearest newspaper outlet as aninstrument for exposure to the campaign. Proximity to anewspaper outlet is positively correlated with the headteachers' knowledge about rules governing the grantprogram and the timing of releases of funds from the center,but uncorrelated with test scores of general ability. Astrong (reduced-form) relationship exists between proximityto a newspaper outlet and reduction in capture of schoolfunds since the newspaper campaign started. This patterncontrasts sharply with the outcomes in the five-year periodprior to the campaign. Instrumenting for head teachers'knowledge about the grant program, the authors find thatpublic access to information is a powerful deterrent tocapture at the local level.