I'm off in 10 days to spend the next two months in Delhi, India where I'll be working on a randomized intervention with members of the teams at Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS), a local non-governmental organization, and the MIT Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). In their own words, SNS "train citizens to use the Right to Information Act to obtain information on the performance of elected representatives and on the functioning of the Government in areas such as ration, civic works, education and social welfare schemes." More broadly, they aim to "promote transparency and accountability in government functioning and to encourage active participation of citizens in governance".
I'll be assisting with a multi-year field experiment in the capital city of Delhi where the Right to Information Act has been used to obtain detailed information on the performance record of local councilors (each of whom were elected to a five-year term in 2007). The study uses an experimental design that allows for the distinct identification of several effects: (i) the standard incentive effect coming from the fear of being penalized by voters; (ii) whether voters became more aggressive in demanding entitlements in response to information about their rights and the performance of their representative; (iii) any selection effects resulting from voters voting for candidates with a better track record.
I previously spent three years at the Cambridge office of J-PAL (with related summer journeys to various parts of Indonesia), so it's certainly exciting to return to working with them for a more extended period in the field. Also, it's been more than two decades since I last spent time in India, visiting my grandparents. I can only imagine how much things have changed and am looking forward to finding out.
