COVID Module Question 9

Do published documents or information on the emergency fiscal policy package under consideration include nonfinancial information on performance and impact for specific policy initiatives?

Guidelines
This question asks whether nonfinancial (performance) data for expenditure policies is included in published documents or information on the emergency fiscal policy package.

Nonfinancial data and performance targets associated with the emergency fiscal policy package are used to assess the success of a given policy. For example, even when allocated funds are spent according to plan, there remains the question of whether the policy delivered the results that it aimed to achieve.

Non-financial data can include information on:


 * Inputs: These are the resources assigned to achieve results. For example, with regard to education during COVID, nonfinancial data on inputs could include the number of laptops to be provided to pupils who are not permitted to attend school in-person.


 * Outputs: These are products and services delivered as a result of inputs. For example, the number of additional people treated in intensive care units as a result of an increase in ventilators supplies; or the number of beneficiaries of a social security program.


 * Outcomes: These are the intended impact or policy goals achieved. For example, a decrease in COVID-19 mortality rate.


 * Targets: The actual figures associated with each indicator. For example, how many pupils are supposed to receive a laptop or how many additional hospital beds and ventilators will be provided?

Tick boxes: ''Please check the boxes of the items that appear in the relevant documentation. If none of the items are presented, please check ‘None of the Above’. In the comment box, please provide a detailed citation for each item selected below as described in the assessment directions as well as any additional details.''


 * ☐  Non-financial information on inputs
 * ☐  Non-financial information on results (outputs or outcomes)
 * ☐  Nonfinancial information on performance targets
 * ☐  Explanatory narrative
 * ☐  None of the above

1) Should researchers only reference documents produced by the executive?
No. Researchers can use any documents produced by any public entity to answer the questions, at least to start with. We can then, when analyzing the results, decide whether these "count" or not. If you have any questions or concerns regarding a particular document, please bring it to the team.

2) Do news articles on an official website, but not in a budget document, providing ad-hoc reporting on the number of beneficiaries to some programs, count?
Not sure of the final resolution to this question. Please see team discussion below.

PAOLO: I'M NOT SURE ABOUT THIS ONE. IDEALLY, NEWS ARTICLES SHOULD CITE SOURCES, AND SOURCES SHOULD BE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE. IF THAT'S NOT THE CASE, I WOULD SAY PROBABLY NOT, BUT THE INFO SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE COMMENTS. MIKE: The spirit of the module is to give as much credit as possible. Contexts like Saudi Arabia, Equatorial Guinea, etc. use the official site like a government press (the repository of all public information). There is no distinction if it comes from a Parliamentary Budget Office, Central Bank, or other non-MOF source. As such, it should count. COSETTE: In my reviews so far I’ve been accepting sources like this based on the generosity principle, if the site is an official one