Strategies to increase compliance with National Transparency Law by increasing response rate of the ITA index

Last registered on September 23, 2020

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Strategies to increase compliance with National Transparency Law by increasing response rate of the ITA index
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0006516
Initial registration date
September 22, 2020

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
September 23, 2020, 9:41 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
New York University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2020-09-01
End date
2020-11-15
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Access to information from public entities or other organizations that receive public funds is a citizen right in Colombia. This data also assists the National Government in tracking and monitoring decentralized operations and entities. However, ensuring that information is made public and accessible can be difficult especially in a decentralized context like Colombia’s. In 2014, the National Government passed the National Transparency Law which defines a set of transparency indicators (the ITA matrix) that must be made public, as well as which entities or subjects are obliged to comply with the reporting of these data. The Transparency Law requires the Inspector General’s Office (the PGN) to promote or enforce compliance with the National Transparency Law. Public sector entities and entities that contract with the state must complete the ITA matrix, which allows for calculation of a score on the ITA Index. The ITA matrix is used as a measure of compliance with the National Transparency Law and constitutes the main monitoring tool of the National Government.
Filling out this matrix is mandatory for all obliged subjects (public and private sector entities). Nevertheless, the response rate has been very low and thus leaves the PGN and the State with limited information on compliance with the National Transparency Law. As such, this study seeks to evaluate which communication strategies work best to improve obliged subjects’ participation in the ITA Matrix and consequently increase the response rate of the ITA and transparency of public information. Four treatments are implemented in a factorial design. Obliged subjects will be randomly assigned into one of seventeen treatment arms. In a pure control group, mandates to complete the ITA matrix are disseminated through 76 “sector heads” following the communication strategy used in 2019. The other arms share the information mandate directly with subjects (bureaucrats or contacts within the entities) and vary: (1) the repetition of requests for information; (2) access to trainings on how to complete the ITA Matrix; (3) acknowledgement of completion/non-completion of the past ITA; and (4) communication that responses could be audited. The treatments seek to identify which communication strategy increases completion and accuracy of the ITA matrix in accordance with the Transparency Law. These estimates will also provide information about the barriers to decentralized data collection.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Slough, Tara. 2020. "Strategies to increase compliance with National Transparency Law by increasing response rate of the ITA index ." AEA RCT Registry. September 23. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.6516-1.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
In the control arm, the Inspector General's Office (PGN) notifies obliged entities through 76 "section heads," as was done in 2019.

In the other treatment arms, obliged entities are contacted directly by email by the Inspector General's Office (in addition to notification by the "section heads"). The direct contact varies in (1) frequency of reminders; (2) acknowledgement of response/non-response in 2019; (3) information about prospective audits of 2020 responses; and (4) provision of links to training videos about how to fill out the ITA matrix.
Intervention (Hidden)
In the pure control group, the Inspector General notifies obligated entities about their obligation to fill out the ITA matrix through 76 “section heads,” as was done in 2019.

The messages in Interventions 1-4 are emailed directly to representatives of the obligated entities.

Intervention 1: Informing subjects about their obligation to fill out the matrix
- Treatment 1: Directly inform subjects that are obligated to fill out the ITA matrix by the deadline set by the Inspector General.
- Treatment 2: Treatment 1 + a reminder two weeks before the submission deadline.

Intervention 2: Informing subjects about their response in 2019.
- Treatment 1: No information about completion of the ITA matrix in 2019
- Treatment 2a: Congratulate subjects that filled out the matrix in 2019.
- Treatment 2b: Note subjects that did not fill out the matrix in 2019.

Intervention 3: Prospective Audits condition.
- Treatment 1: No information about the Inspector General’s verification process for the ITA matrix.
- Treatment 2: Inform subjects about the Inspector General’s verification process for responses to the 2020 ITA matrix.

Intervention 4: Providing subjects with links to online resources about how to fill out the matrix form.
- Treatment 1: Subjects do not receive any information about resources to aid in filling out the ITA matrix.
- Treatment 2: Inform subjects what instructional resources designed by the Inspector General exist and how to access them (virtually).

Interventions 1-4 are fully crossed yielding 16 treatment arms with some form of direct contact.
Intervention Start Date
2020-09-07
Intervention End Date
2020-10-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Compliance with the ITA Matrix in 2020 (indicator measured by the Inspector General’s Office).
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Accuracy of responses to the ITA matrix benchmarked to other administrative data.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We conduct a factorial experiment with a pure control arm and a fully-crossed 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 factorial design. All obliged subjects (entities) will be notified of their obligation to fill out the ITA matrix through 76 "section heads," as was done in 2019. This constitutes the only notification for the pure control group. In the treatment groups, subjects are emailed directly. Manipulation of the content and frequency of these messages constitutes the 2*2*2*2 factorial design, following the four interventions above.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Computer
Randomization Unit
Obliged subjects (each a public or private sector entity).
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
12,053 entities (there is no clustering)
Sample size: planned number of observations
12,053 entities
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
1339 entities in pure control. 669-671 entities in each of the 16 cells of the factorial treatment conditions.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials