Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/282574 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 10886
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
The governance of natural resource wealth is a key factor in promoting strong institutions and economic development in resource-rich countries. In this paper, we explore how individuals' engagement in local natural resource revenue (NRR) management can be enhanced and encouraged. We focus on Indonesia, which is a large gold and petroleum producer, among other natural resources, with local challenges such as underdevelopment of resource-rich areas and corruption. We run a randomized survey experiment among 807 local community members in an oil-rich district using videos with three information treatments that give citizens salient and easily understandable information on local NRR and additional motivation to use this information to engage in NRR management. Our outcomes include survey questions on stated behavior and citizen rights perception regarding NRR management, and two incentive-compatible measures. We find that providing easily understandable information increases respondents' sense of the right to personally influence how NRR are used and the propensity to donate to an anti-corruption NGO. Our positive-example treatment was able to increase respondents' sense of their right to benefit from NRR and their right to influence NRR management, while our negative-example treatment had no impact on our outcomes. We also explore intervening mechanisms and heterogeneous effects. Providing the population of resource-rich areas with easily understood information on NRR management that is relevant to the local context offers an encouraging avenue for combating NRR-related mismanagement and corruption.
Subjects: 
accountability
survey experiment
video
Indonesia
petroleum revenues
information treatment
JEL: 
Q35
Q38
H41
H23
D80
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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