Knowledge for Results and the Efficiency of Public Agencies in Colombia

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Date
Feb 2022
This publication documents the effects of an intervention in the exchange of knowledge, in which information inherent to ecient private organizations is used to improve the bureaucratic procedures of public bodies. In particular, it analyzes the impact of the Knowledge for Results (K4R) program on the eciency of public agencies in Colombia. The study findings indicate that K4R is associated with a statistically significant improvement in operational efficiency. Two examples of K4R are presented. In the first example, K4R reduced the time it took for local offices of the People's Ombudsman to consider citizens' petitions. In the second example, K4R reduced the time cancer patients spend in an emergency room before being discharged. These time reductions are quantitatively relevant and represent eciency gains of the order of 25% to 40% in relation to the levels prior to the program.