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PRWP

[OLD VERSION] Reproducibility package for Command and Can't Control: Assessing Centralized Accountability in the Public Sector

2024
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Reference ID
RR_PAK_2023_61-v01
Author(s)
Saad Gulzar, Juan Felipe Ladino, Muhammad Zia Mehmood, Daniel Rogger
Collections
World Bank Policy Research Working Papers
Metadata
JSON
Created on
Feb 01, 2024
Last modified
Jun 02, 2025
  • Overview
  • Reproducibility Package
  • Description
  • Scope and coverage
  • Disclaimer
  • Access and rights
  • Contacts
  • Information on metadata

    • Overview

    Abstract

    [PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS REPRODUCIBILITY PACKAGE WAS UPDATED TO A NEW VERSION. THE UPDATED VERSION IS AVAILABLE IN THIS LINK: https://reproducibility.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/283]
    A long-established approach to management in government has been the transmission of information up a hierarchy, and centralized decision-making and oversight; colloquially known as ‘command and control’. This paper examines accountability in such a system implemented at scale in Punjab, Pakistan. Using random variation in the intensity of accountability of the scheme, we show that the corresponding de facto punishments had a negligible impact on school or student outcomes. We use detailed data on the education production function to show that a fundamental component of command-and-control approaches does not induce bureaucratic action towards improvements in government performance.

    Reproducibility Package

    Scripts
    Get Reproducibility Package
    Title
    Reproducibility package (code only) for Command and Can’t Control: Assessing Centralized Accountability in the Public Sector
    Date
    2023-12
    Software
    Stata
    Dependencies
    outreg2, geodist, geonear, group_id, jarowinkler, plaettes, colrspace, seconde, nwcommands-ado, rdrobust, bcuse, ftools, moremata, reghdfe, ivreghdfe, ivreg2, ranktest, did_multiplegt, eventstudyweights, github, eventstudyinteract, synth, addplot, panelview, grstyle, tabplot, beamplot, coefplot, grc1leg, estout, labutil, fese, fese_fast, ebayes. All dependency files are included in the folder "analysis/adofiles".
    Notes
    Computational reproducibility verified by Development Impact (DIME) Analytics team, World Bank.
    Source code repository
    Repository name URI
    Reproducible Research Repository (World Bank) https://reproducibility.worldbank.org
    Software
    Name
    Stata
    Version
    17.0 MP

    Reproducibility

    Technology environment

    Paper exhibits were reproduced on a computer with the following specifications:

    • OS: Windows 10 Enterprise, version 21H2
    • Processor: Intel(R) Xeon(R) Gold 6226R CPU @ 2.9GHz
    • Memory available: 128 GB
    • Software version: Stata 17.0 MP
    Technology requirements

    Runtime: 5 hours

    Data

    Datasets
    Name
    Monthly performance reports on primary schools - Punjab, Pakistan
    Note
    Data collected by the Program Monitoring and Implementation Unit - School Education Department of Punjab, on a monthly basis in a random set of schools per Markaz. The data was collected between 2009 and 2018. Data was accessed by the team in July, 2019. Corresponding datasets in "data/": "cc_mea_master.dta", "cc_mea_master_finance.dta", "cc_budget.dta", "lnd_master.dta", "satt_targets_dp3.dta", "officers_punjab_pak.csv".
    Access policy
    Restricted due to no-sharing agreement with the School Education Department of Punjab
    Name
    District school performance ranking - Punjab, Pakistan
    Note
    Data collected by the Program Monitoring and Implementation Unit - School Education Department of Punjab, on a quarterly basis on the average performance of the schools in each District in the previous three months and the district ranking based on the average performance. The data was collected between 2011 and 2015.
    Access policy
    Restricted due to no-sharing agreement with the School Education Department of Punjab
    Name
    Annual school census - Punjab, Pakistan
    Note
    Data collected by the Program Monitoring and Implementation Unit - School Education Department of Punjab, on a yearly basis on all primary schools in Punjab. The data was collected between 2011 and 2018.
    Access policy
    Restricted due to no-sharing agreement with the School Education Department of Punjab
    Data statement

    All data is restricted and has not been included in the reproducibility package. For more details, please refer to the README file.

    Description

    Output
    Type
    Working paper
    Title
    Command and Can’t Control: Assessing Centralized Accountability in the Public Sector
    Authors
    Saad Gulzar, Juan Felipe Ladino, Muhammad Zia Mehmood, Daniel Rogger
    Description
    Policy Research Working Paper (PRWP)
    Authors
    Author Affiliation Email
    Saad Gulzar Princeton University gulzar@princeton.edu
    Juan Felipe Ladino Stockholm University juan.felipe.ladino@su.se
    Muhammad Zia Mehmood University of California Berkeley mz_mehmood@berkeley.edu
    Daniel Rogger World Bank drogger@worldbank.org
    Date of production

    2024-01

    Scope and coverage

    Geographic locations
    Location Code
    Pakistan PAK
    Keywords
    Accountability Bureaucracy Education Government
    Topics
    ID Topic Vocabulary URI
    D73 Bureaucracy • Administrative Processes in Public Organizations • Corruption
    H11 Structure, Scope, and Performance of Government
    H83 Public Administration • Public Sector Accounting and Audits

    Disclaimer

    Disclaimer

    The materials in the reproducibility packages are distributed as they were prepared by the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this event do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank, the Executive Directors of the World Bank, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the materials included in the reproducibility package.

    Access and rights

    License
    Name URI
    Modified BSD3 https://opensource.org/license/bsd-3-clause/

    Contacts

    Contacts
    Name Affiliation Email
    Daniel Rogger World Bank drogger@worldbank.org
    Reproducibility WBG World Bank reproducibility@worldbank.org

    Information on metadata

    Producers
    Name Abbreviation Affiliation Role
    Reproducibility WBG DIME World Bank - Development Impact Department Verification and preparation of metadata
    Date of Production

    2024-01
    Document version

    1
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