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Personalities and Public Sector Performance: Evidence from a Health Experiment in Pakistan

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  • Michael Callen
  • Saad Gulzar
  • Ali Hasanain
  • Muhammad Yasir Khan
  • Arman Rezaee

Abstract

This paper provides evidence that the personalities of policymakers matter for policy. Three results support the relevance of personalities for policy. First, doctors with higher Big Five and Perry Public Sector Motivation scores attend work more and falsify inspection reports less. Second, health inspectors who score higher on these measures exhibit larger treatment responses to increased monitoring. Last, senior health officials with higher personality scores respond more to data on staff absence by compelling better subsequent attendance. These results suggest that interpersonal differences matter are consequential for state performance.

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  • Michael Callen & Saad Gulzar & Ali Hasanain & Muhammad Yasir Khan & Arman Rezaee, 2015. "Personalities and Public Sector Performance: Evidence from a Health Experiment in Pakistan," NBER Working Papers 21180, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21180
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    3. Berry, James & Mehta, Saurabh & Mukherjee, Priya & Ruebeck, Hannah & Shastry, Gauri Kartini, 2021. "Crowd-out in school-based health interventions: Evidence from India’s midday meals program," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    4. Max Tabord-Meehan, 2023. "Stratification Trees for Adaptive Randomisation in Randomised Controlled Trials," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 90(5), pages 2646-2673.
    5. Federico A. Bugni & Ivan A. Canay & Azeem M. Shaikh, 2018. "Inference Under Covariate-Adaptive Randomization," Journal of the American Statistical Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 113(524), pages 1784-1796, October.
    6. Manoj Mohanan & Katherine Donato & Grant Miller & Yulya Truskinovsky & Marcos Vera-Hernández, 2021. "Different Strokes for Different Folks? Experimental Evidence on the Effectiveness of Input and Output Incentive Contracts for Health Care Providers with Varying Skills," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 34-69, October.
    7. Federico A. Bugni & Ivan A. Canay & Azeem M. Shaikh, 2019. "Inference under covariate‐adaptive randomization with multiple treatments," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 10(4), pages 1747-1785, November.
    8. Prakash, Nishith & Rockmore, Marc & Uppal, Yogesh, 2019. "Do criminally accused politicians affect economic outcomes? Evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    9. Zanoni, Wladimir & Fabregas, Raissa, 2024. "The Migrant Penalty in Latin America: Experimental Evidence from Job Recruiters," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 13804, Inter-American Development Bank.
    10. Rachid Laaja & Karen Macours, 2021. "Measuring Skills in Developing Countries," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 56(4), pages 1254-1295.
    11. James Habyarimana & Stuti Khemani & Thiago Scot, 2023. "The importance of political selection for bureaucratic effectiveness," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(359), pages 746-779, July.
    12. Donald,Aletheia Amalia & Goldstein,Markus P. & Rouanet,Lea Marie, 2022. "Two Heads Are Better Than One : Agricultural Production and Investment in Côte d’Ivoire," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10047, The World Bank.
    13. Vatt Bankoson, 2021. "Global Moral Standards as Viewed by the Thai Professionals," International Journal of Publication and Social Studies, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 6(1), pages 56-71, June.
    14. Eilermann, Kerstin & Halstenberg, Katrin & Kuntz, Ludwig & Martakis, Kyriakos & Roth, Bernhard & Wiesen, Daniel, 2019. "The Effect of Expert Feedback on Antibiotic Prescribing in Pediatrics: Experimental Evidence," HERO Online Working Paper Series 2020:1, University of Oslo, Health Economics Research Programme.
    15. Marianne Bertrand & Robin Burgess & Arunish Chawla & Guo Xu, 2020. "The Glittering Prizes: Career Incentives and Bureaucrat Performance," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 87(2), pages 626-655.
    16. Frederico Finan & Benjamin A. Olken & Rohini Pande, 2015. "The Personnel Economics of the State," NBER Working Papers 21825, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Hasanain, Syed Ali & Khan, Muhammad Yasir & Rezaee, Arman, 2023. "No bulls: Experimental evidence on the impact of veterinarian ratings in Pakistan," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    18. Michael Callen & Saad Gulzar & Syed Ali Hasanain & Muhammad Yasir Khan, 2016. "The Political Economy of Public Sector Absence: Experimental Evidence from Pakistan," NBER Working Papers 22340, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Kerstin Eilermann & Katrin Halstenberg & Ludwig Kuntz & Kyriakos Martakis & Bernhard Roth & Daniel Wiesen, 2019. "The Effect of Expert Feedback on Antibiotic Prescribing in Pediatrics: Experimental Evidence," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 39(7), pages 781-795, October.
    20. Kong, Dongmin & Liu, Chenhao, 2024. "Centralization and regulatory enforcement: Evidence from personnel authority reform in China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

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