Browsing by Author "Repetto, Andrea"

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    Audit threats and year-end spending by government agencies: experimental evidence from Chile
    (Emerald Publishing, 2023) Engel, Eduardo; Jordán Colzani, Felipe; Rau Binder, Tomás Andrés; Repetto, Andrea
    Purpose: The paper aims to estimate the capacity of supreme audit institutions’ (SAIs) audits to deter potentially wasteful year-end procurement spending. It also studies heterogeneous responses to SAIs’ audits depending on whether agencies’ top managers are appointed through a competitive procedure or not. Design/methodology/approach: A letter signed by the head of Chile’s SAI was sent to a hundred randomly chosen agencies two weeks before the end of the fiscal year, with instructions on year-end spending accounting and an audit threat. In addition, a hundred agencies that did not receive the letter were used as a control group. Findings: Agencies that received the letter reduced year-end aggregate procurement spending by 33% relative to controls. Purchases of office supplies, safety equipment, personal care products and paper products experienced the most considerable reductions. The decrease in year-end spending was smaller for agencies with at least one top manager appointed through a competitive procedure. Research limitations/implications: A SAI’s audit threat significantly reduced year-end procurement spending. Larger reductions in agencies headed by political appointees and across categories of goods that have been flagged as likely to be purchased to exhaust the budget suggest the avoided expenditures would have been wasteful. Further research is needed to determine if the net social value of year-end procurement spending deterred by SAIs audits is negative as suggested. Social implications: This paper has implications for the institutional support of SAIs audits and civil service. Originality/value: This paper provides novel experimental evidence of SAIs’ audits’ deterrence power on public agencies’ year-end procurement spending.
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    Slow Recoveries
    (WORLD BANK INST, 2010) Bergoeing, Raphael; Loayza, Norman V.; Repetto, Andrea; Loayza, NV; Serven, L
    In this study, we examine residential trajectories since birth among older adults in the Santiago Metropolitan Area, Chile, and their association with health outcomes. We linked retrospective residential information for a sample of 802 individuals aged 65-75 in 2019 to context-based information from decennial censuses. Our analysis reveals substantive heterogeneity in individuals' residential trajectories, thus mirroring social and urban changes in Chile's largest city. We found significant associations between residential histories and health outcomes at the time of the interview. Consistent residence in advantaged areas was linked to better health, whereas relocating to the metropolitan area from elsewhere was generally linked to poorer health, except for those moving to emerging middle-class areas. These findings underscore the importance of longitudinal and life course approaches in understanding the complex relationship between place and health.
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    Socioeconomic inequalities in self-perceived oral health among adults in Chile
    (2017) Gallego Yáñez, Francisco; Larroulet, Cristián; Palomer Roggerone, Leonor; Repetto, Andrea; Verdugo, Diego
    Abstract Background This paper studies the socioeconomic disparities in self-perceived oral health among Chilean adults and in the perceived physical, functional, psychological and social consequences of oral health. Methods In February 2011, 1,413 residents of Metropolitan Area of Santiago, Chile, were interviewed using a standardized questionnaire and examined by dentists for dental status and oral health conditions. Only adults 18 to 60 years old affiliated with the public healthcare system were eligible to participate. We estimate socioeconomic gradients in self-perceived oral health and its distinct dimensions. We use the Heckman two-step procedure to control for selection bias given the non-random nature of the sample. In addition, we use a two-equation ordered response model given the discrete nature of the dependent variable. Results There is a non-linear socioeconomic gradient in self-perceived oral health even after controlling for oral health status. The gradient is steep at the lower end of the income distribution and constant at mid-income levels. These socioeconomic disparities are also found for the psychological and social dimensions of self-perceived oral health, but not for the functional limitations and physical pain dimensions. Conclusions The findings are consistent with inequities in the access to oral health services due to insufficient provision in the public sector and costly options in the private sector.