Reducing Delay in Payments in Welfare Programs - Experimental Evidence from an Information Dissemination Intervention

Jul 19, 2026

Upload by Ezra

This paper assesses the impact of an information dissemination intervention on local implementation of India’s rural public works program. Workers receive information when wages are credited to their accounts. Administrative and survey data evaluate effects on delays in wage payments, days of work, and awareness of entitlements. Results show substantial reductions in payment delays and withdrawal trips, alongside improved awareness. Delay reductions persist beyond the intervention, with limited work-day effects during the intervention but significant post-intervention gains, supported by qualitative evidence.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

Introduction

Intervention and information timing

Data sources and evaluation approach

Findings on payment delays and awareness

Persistence of effects beyond the intervention period

Effects on work days and qualitative support

Pub lic Disclosure Authorized Pub lic Disclosure Authorized The World Bank Economic Review, 37(3), 2023, 494–517 [https://doi.org10.1093/wber/lhad011](https://doi.org10.1093/wber/lhad011) Article Reducing Delay in Payments in Welfare Programs: Experimental Evidence from an Information Dissemination Intervention Upasak Das , Amartya Paul , and Mohit Sharma Abstract This paper assesses the impact of an information dissemination intervention on the local-level implementation of the rural public works program in India. One key feature of the intervention is to provide information to workers once their wages get credited into their accounts. Using administrative and survey data, its impact on delays in wage payments and days of work along with the awareness levels of the entitlements is evaluated. The findings indicate a substantial reduction in payment delays and in trips made for wage withdrawal, in addition to improvements in awareness. The decrease in the payment delays in the treated villages persistseven beyond the intervention period. While a limited impact on work days is observed during the intervention, a significant increase in the post-intervention period is found. The findings substantiated through qualitative evidence provide a platform for an innovative and cost-effective intervention to improve the implementation of social protection programs. JEL classification: I30, I38, H75 Keywords: information dissemination, India, delay in payment, MGNREGA, awareness 1. Introduction The success of welfare interventions, including public works programs, depends on how they are implemented at the local level. Multiple market failures leading to implementation shortfalls, transaction Upasak Das (corresponding author) is a presidential fellow in the Economics of Poverty Reduction, Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, and an affiliate at the Centre for Social Norms and Behavioral Dynamics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; his email address is [upasak.das@manchester.ac.uk. Amartya Paul](upasak.das@manchester.ac.uk. Amartya Paul) is an assistant professor of economics at the XIM University, Bhubaneswar, India; his email address is [amartya@xim.edu.in. Mohit](amartya@xim.edu.in. Mohit)[ ](amartya@xim.edu.in. Mohit)Sharma is a doctoral scholar at the Madras School of Economics, Chennai, India; his email address [is mohit.mse@gmail.com](is mohit.mse@gmail.com). The authors benefited from the comments from three anonymous referees and the editor. The authors thank David Fielding, Kunal Sen, Anirban Mitra, Sattwik Santra, Srikanta Kundu, Thiagu Ranganathan, Chakradhar Buddha, Anuradha De, and numerous seminar participants at UNU-WIDER; University of Manchester; University of Calcutta; Centre for Development Studies, Jadavpur University; Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, XIM University; Bhubaneswar and Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; for their comments. The authors also thank the Libtech team, along with Aastha Ahuja, Diwakar Mantri, and Sushmita Chakraborty, for their help with the preparation of data and maps, and express special gratitude to the interviewers, supervisors, and respondents for their cooperation with data collection. An earlier version of this study was published as UNU-WIDER Working Paper 21/2021 . A supplementary online appendix is available with this article at The World Bank Economic Review website. This work is financially supported by the Tata Trust (grant number RLC-PPP-CORD India 20160922) . © UNU-WIDER This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence ([http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)), which permits non-commercial reproduction and distribution of the work, in any medium, provided the original work is not altered or transformed in any way, and that the work is properly cited. Fo

FAQs

What intervention does the paper evaluate in India’s rural public works program?

It evaluates an information dissemination intervention that provides workers with information once their wages are credited into their accounts.

How does the intervention affect wage payment delays and withdrawal behavior?

The findings indicate substantial reductions in payment delays and fewer trips made to withdraw wages.

Do the effects continue after the intervention ends?

Yes. The decrease in payment delays in treated villages persists even beyond the intervention period.

Jul 19, 2026

Upload by Ezra