Political Accountability and Public Fund Management in Kenya
Principal Investigator
Kelly Zhang
Political Science Department, Stanford School of Humanities & Sciences
Co-Investigators
Stanford Graduate School of Business
Research Locations
Kenya
Award Date
March 2013
Award Type
PhD I-Award
Abstract
In developing democracies, the political class is often perceived as highly corrupt. Are citizens able to distinguish the prudent managers of public funds from those who mismanage funds? Focusing on politician ability to manage passive waste, this field experiment during the 2013 Kenyan national elections explores how information about incumbent performance in public fund management impacts citizen beliefs about politician quality and incumbent support. It also examines the extent to which citizens are able to infer mismanagement of public funds, and the degree to which information may dissipate over time.