Audit-Protected Performance Measurement
RCTClinical Trial
Public sector performance evaluation based on beneficiary surveys or worker self-reports risks metric manipulation, output inflation, and worker-client collusion.
Picture this
Imagine a classroom exam where students know that random answer sheets will be double-checked by independent outside inspectors; unpredictable audits prevent students from cheating or making fake arrangements with graders.
What the evidence says
Unannounced third-party auditing prevented data fabrication, yielding verified performance data showing no statistically significant difference in reported visit rates between socially connected households (friends/family) and non-connected households (p = 0.439).
- Who was studied
- N = 2,009 Community Health Workers and primary female caregivers across 10% of households in 372 Peripheral Health Units in Sierra Leone.
- How
- Randomized field trial incorporating weekly unannounced back-checks by independent field monitors across a random 25% subset of surveyed households via phone or in-person visits.
What to do
Implement mandatory unannounced third-party audit back-checks on a random 25% sample of performance evaluation data to eliminate collusion and reporting bias.
From the source
"To limit collusion, a random 25% of households each week were "back-checked" either by phone or in-person (unannounced visits) by a team of field monitors, who asked the households to confirm the date and the type of the household visit."
Promotions_and_Productivity_The_Role_of_Meritocracy_and_Pay_Progression.pdf