CBT Research Seminar: Anne Brockmeyer, World Bank
CBT seminars are open to Oxford University students, faculty and staff. Registration will close at Midday on Friday 1 November. You can register to attend by contacting cbtevents@sbs.ox.ac.uk. A calendar invite confirming your registration will be sent by 4pm on Friday 1 November.
Algorithms and Bureaucrats: Evidence from Tax Audit Selection in Senegal

Can algorithms enhance the work of bureaucrats in developing countries? Developing economies are often data-poor environments, where individual bureaucrats have substantial discretion to take key decisions, such as selecting taxpayers for audits. Exploiting a trove of newly digitized microdata, we conduct a field experiment across tax offices in Senegal, whereby half of the annual audit program is selected by inspectors and the other half is selected by a risk-scoring algorithm. We document three sets of results. First, inspector-selected audits are 18 ppt more likely to be conducted and detect higher amounts of evasion. Second, algorithm-selected audits are less cost-effective and do not generate less corruption. Third, even an ex-post optimized algorithm, trained on outcome data, would have increased detected evasion by only 5% compared to the inspector selection. This is consistent with the inspectors’ high skill level and the imperfection of the available data.

(with Pierre Bachas, Alipio Ferreira and Bassirou Sarr)
Date: 4 November 2024, 15:00 (Monday, 4th week, Michaelmas 2024)
Venue: Saïd Business School, Park End Street OX1 1HP
Speaker: Anne Brockmeyer (World Bank)
Organiser contact email address: CBTEvents@sbs.ox.ac.uk
Part of: CBT Seminar Series
Booking required?: Required
Booking email: CBTEvents@sbs.ox.ac.uk
Audience: Members of the University only
Editor: Gemma Mumford