This paper investigates the potential of information technology to improve public service delivery and empower citizens. The investigation uses two randomized natural experiments in the renewal of national identification cards by the Bolivian Police. The first experiment arises from the random assignment of police officers and applicants to a manual or digital renewal process, which is identical in all other aspects. The second experiment arises from technical failures in the digital renewal process, which allow police officers to change from the digital to the manual renewal process randomly across renewal days. The efficiency of public service delivery is measured in renewal success rates (which average to a strikingly low rate of 72 percent in the sample) and the time it takes to renew an identification card. The findings show that applicants who were randomly assigned to the digital renewal process were on average 12 percentage points more likely to complete it, compared with those who were randomly assigned to the manual process. Further, successful applicants who were randomly assigned to the digital process took on average 31 percent less time to complete the process, compared with those who were randomly assigned to the manual process. The investigation finds that information technology significantly lowers barriers to accessing national identification cards, and promotes more equitable provision across the population. The findings suggest that information technology might achieve these goals by introducing efficiencies (such as reducing administrative shortcomings and transaction costs) and limiting the exercise of discretion by police officers in the renewal process.
Details
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Author
Chong,Alberto, Salas,Gustavo Machicado, Yanez Pagans,Monica
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Document Date
2017/06/01
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Document Type
Policy Research Working Paper
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Report Number
WPS8083
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Volume No
1
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Total Volume(s)
1
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Country
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Region
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Disclosure Date
2017/06/01
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Disclosure Status
Disclosed
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Doc Name
Information technology and provision of national identification cards by the Bolivian police : evidence from two randomized natural field experiments
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Keywords
speaking an indigenous language;access to information technology;investment in information technology;short period of time;quality of public service;reduction in transaction cost;proof of identity;public service delivery;male applicants;public service reform;basic social service;digital process;barriers in access;delivery of service;probability density function;total factor productivity;social security number;neoclassical production function;vital records;high school;Private School;rural area;natural experiment;bureaucratic process;red tape;administrative shortcoming;disadvantaged backgrounds;sample mean;indigenous background;primary data;administrative procedure;application fee;education level;traditional technology;socioeconomic status;demographic characteristic;regression model;rural applicant;increased access;administrative datum;high probability;probit regression;social status;monthly wage;educational level;0 hypothesis;lowering barrier;census data;digital camera;average values;bolivian women;electoral fraud;visual inspection;indigenous woman;average age;laser printer;waiting time;present evidence;multiple sources;bureaucratic delay;point estimate;success indicator;indigenous group;accounting techniques;transition period;budget constraint;rural female;reducing transaction;manual system;collected information;record keeping;young male;selection bias;physical location;descriptive statistic;renewal system;summary statistic;aggregate data;government service;social transfer;formal sector;development study;selective enforcement;intrinsic characteristic;downtown area;bank transaction;individual need;development policy;driving license;labor productivity;random process;electoral list;natural disaster;excessive bureaucracy;marital status;equitable access;fraud prevention;Public Services;open access;market participant;mobile banking;damage assessment;
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Citation
Chong,Alberto Salas,Gustavo Machicado Yanez Pagans,Monica
Information technology and provision of national identification cards by the Bolivian police : evidence from two randomized natural field experiments (English). Policy Research working paper,no. WPS 8083,Impact Evaluation series Washington, D.C. : World Bank Group. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/447061496345939554/Information-technology-and-provision-of-national-identification-cards-by-the-Bolivian-police-evidence-from-two-randomized-natural-field-experiments