Tracking Leakages in Local Goods Distribution Using iBeacon Technology

• In Event: New Insights for African Politics from Experimental Methods

Abstract

We pilot the use of iBeacon technology for tracking the distribution (and, potentially, the leakage) of development goods. We embed beacons into solar lanterns, which we then ask village heads to distribute in largely unelectrified communities in rural Kenya. We ask village elders to prioritize households with children under five. We track the presence of tagged lanterns in the communities by sending a field officer with an iBeacon reader within 20 meters of each household in the village. By cross-referencing lantern locations with a subsequent household survey, we examine village heads’ compliance with program guidelines. We investigate both the rate of apparent leakage and potential explanations for leakage (e.g., distributor malfeasance versus superior local knowledge of need). In addition, we consider iBeacon’s advantages for future political economy research. We successfully detected 99% of tagged lanterns during our field officers’ monitoring missions, suggesting that iBeacon technology can provide reliable data in field settings. However, we also find that traditional tracking methods were equally effective and ultimately more efficient at locating distributed lanterns.

Authors

• Daniel N. Posner, University of California, Los Angeles

• A Muthoni Ng'ang'a, Wilfrid Laurier University

• Jennifer A. Hamilton, Georgia Institute of Technology