Vista Equipo: Can SMS Technology Improve Low Take-up of Social Benefits? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial

Can SMS Technology Improve Low Take-up of Social Benefits? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial

Low take-up of stigma-free social benefits is often blamed on information asymmetries or administrative barriers. There is limited evidence on which of these potential channels is more salient in which contexts. We designed and implemented a randomized controlled trial to assess the extent to which...

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Autor Principal:	Vargas Duque, Juan Fernando
Formato:	Artículo (Article)
Lenguaje:	Inglés (English)
Publicado:	Peace Science and Public Policy 2014
Materias:	Social benefits Information asymmetries Administrative barriers
Acceso en línea:	https://repository.urosario.edu.co/handle/10336/27321 http://dx.doi.org/10.1515 /peps-2013-0060

id	ir-10336-27321
recordtype	dspace
spelling	ir-10336-273212020-08-19T14:41:44Z Can SMS Technology Improve Low Take-up of Social Benefits? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial ¿Puede la tecnología SMS mejorar la baja aceptación de los beneficios sociales? Evidencia de un ensayo controlado aleatorio Vargas Duque, Juan Fernando Social benefits Information asymmetries Administrative barriers Low take-up of stigma-free social benefits is often blamed on information asymmetries or administrative barriers. There is limited evidence on which of these potential channels is more salient in which contexts. We designed and implemented a randomized controlled trial to assess the extent to which informational barriers are responsible for the prevalent low take-up of government benefits among Colombian conflict-driven internal refugees. We provide timely information on benefits eligibility via SMS to a random half of the displaced household that migrated to Bogotá over a 6-month period. We show that improving information increases benefits’ take-up. However, the effect is small and only true for certain type of benefits. Hence, consistent with previous experimental literature, the availability of timely information explains only part of the low take-up rates and the role of administrative barriers and bureaucratic processes should be tackled to increase the well-being of internal refugees in Colombia. 2014 2020-08-19T14:41:44Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion ISSN: 1079-2457 EISSN: 1554-8597 https://repository.urosario.edu.co/handle/10336/27321 http://dx.doi.org/10.1515 /peps-2013-0060 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess application/pdf Peace Science and Public Policy Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy
institution	EdocUR - Universidad del Rosario
collection	DSpace
language	Inglés (English)
topic	Social benefits Information asymmetries Administrative barriers
spellingShingle	Social benefits Information asymmetries Administrative barriers Vargas Duque, Juan Fernando Can SMS Technology Improve Low Take-up of Social Benefits? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial
description	Low take-up of stigma-free social benefits is often blamed on information asymmetries or administrative barriers. There is limited evidence on which of these potential channels is more salient in which contexts. We designed and implemented a randomized controlled trial to assess the extent to which informational barriers are responsible for the prevalent low take-up of government benefits among Colombian conflict-driven internal refugees. We provide timely information on benefits eligibility via SMS to a random half of the displaced household that migrated to Bogotá over a 6-month period. We show that improving information increases benefits’ take-up. However, the effect is small and only true for certain type of benefits. Hence, consistent with previous experimental literature, the availability of timely information explains only part of the low take-up rates and the role of administrative barriers and bureaucratic processes should be tackled to increase the well-being of internal refugees in Colombia.
format	Artículo (Article)
author	Vargas Duque, Juan Fernando
author_facet	Vargas Duque, Juan Fernando
author_sort	Vargas Duque, Juan Fernando
title	Can SMS Technology Improve Low Take-up of Social Benefits? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial
title_short	Can SMS Technology Improve Low Take-up of Social Benefits? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial
title_full	Can SMS Technology Improve Low Take-up of Social Benefits? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial
title_fullStr	Can SMS Technology Improve Low Take-up of Social Benefits? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial
title_full_unstemmed	Can SMS Technology Improve Low Take-up of Social Benefits? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial
title_sort	can sms technology improve low take-up of social benefits? evidence from a randomized controlled trial
publisher	Peace Science and Public Policy
publishDate	2014
url	https://repository.urosario.edu.co/handle/10336/27321 http://dx.doi.org/10.1515 /peps-2013-0060
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score	12,111491

Can SMS Technology Improve Low Take-up of Social Benefits? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial

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