Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/245878 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
IDB Working Paper Series No. IDB-WP-1261
Publisher: 
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Washington, DC
Abstract: 
Access to identification cards (IDs) is often required to claim government benefits. However, it is unclear which policies to increase ID ownership are more effective. We experimentally analyze the effect of two policy interventions to induce the timely renewal of identification cards on access to a government social program in Panama. Sending reminders about expiration dates increased the probability of on-time renewals and of accessing benefits from a social program by 12 and 4.3 percentage points, respectively, relative to a control group. In contrast, allowing individuals to renew their ID online only increased renewals and access to benefits by 8 and 2.9 percentage points, respectively. This result was driven by lower-income individuals. The results suggest that policies to increase ownership of valid identity documentation can reduce inclusion errors in government programs and that simply granting access to digital tools may not be enough to unlock important effects.
Subjects: 
Digitization
Nudges
Social protection
JEL: 
D90
H53
I38
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-nd Logo
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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