LETTER GRADING GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY
向159个国家的不存在的商业地址寄信，测量信件退回率与退回时间，以此作为政府效率的新客观指标，发现技术和管理质量共同影响政府效率。
We mailed letters to non-existent business addresses in 159 countries (10 per country), and measured whether they come back to the return address in the United States and how long it takes. About 60% of the letters were returned, taking over six months, on average. The results provide new objective indicators of government efficiency across countries, based on a simple and universal service, and allow us to shed light on its determinants. The evidence suggests that both technology and management quality influence government efficiency, just as they do that of the private sector.