Published: January, 2022
Authors: Mark Buntaine
We investigate whether positive recognition of elected community leaders improves the administration of public projects and fosters expectations for good governance. This approach contrasts with most anti-corruption interventions that focus on detecting or punishing the misuse of public funds. In a first field experiment, we test whether prospectively offering eligibility for positive recognition increases local leaders’ effort and effectiveness at administering public projects according to legal guidelines designed to deter corruption. In a second field experiment, we test whether retrospectively learning about leaders who received awards for the effective administration of projects increases leaders’ and residents’ expectations for good governance and norms against corruption. Prospective eligibility for recognition did not improve the management of public projects or change norms about corruption. Retrospectively learning about local leaders who earned recognition likewise did not change behaviors or attitudes about corruption. An ethnographic study embedded in all stages of both field experiments shows that the possibility for recognition generated excitement among local leaders, but was not able to overcome structural constraints that limited local leaders’ ability to shape the outcomes of public projects.
