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Information Disclosure and the Performance of Public Investment. The Case of Costa Rica

Author

Listed:
  • Martín A. Rossi
  • Antonia Vazquez
  • Juan Cruz Vieyra

Abstract

This paper provides experimental evidence about the causal impact of publishing information related to public investment projects on the performance of these projects. Specifically, it analyzes the impact of the launch of the website MapaInversiones on the physical and financial progress of public investment projects in Costa Rica. The study finds that published projects (the treatment group) perform better than unpublished projects (the control group). Three months after the release of MapaInversiones, financial progress of public investment projects uploaded onto the platform increased by 18 percentage points, and physical progress increased by 8 percentage points compared to unpublished projects. A year after the intervention, financial progress of treated projects was approximately 15 percentage points higher relative to control projects, while the increase in physical progress after one year of launching the platform was approximately 1 percent.

Suggested Citation

  • Martín A. Rossi & Antonia Vazquez & Juan Cruz Vieyra, 2020. "Information Disclosure and the Performance of Public Investment. The Case of Costa Rica," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4424, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    • Handle: RePEc:aep:anales:4424
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    digital innovation; efficiency; investment projects; monitoring; transparency;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General
    • H83 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - Public Administration
    • L78 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Primary Products and Construction - - - Government Policy
    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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