We use Benford’s Law to investigate inaccurate financial reports of a representative sample of Ugandan nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). We find that 25% of the sample provided information that did not conform to the Benford distribution, suggesting potential misreporting. NGOs with better ratings from their beneficiaries are more likely to submit credible information. This contradicts the belief that upward accountability demands crowd out serving the client community. The decision to withhold requested information is unrelated to the decision to report inaccurately, with the latter attributed to limited capacity and skills. Policies should provide larger roles for beneficiary-based assessments and increased support for bookkeeping activities.

中文翻译：

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表现更好的非政府组织确实报告更准确：来自调查乌干达非政府组织财务账户的证据

我们使用本福德定律来调查乌干达非政府组织 (NGO) 代表性样本的不准确财务报告。我们发现 25% 的样本提供的信息不符合 Benford 分布，表明可能存在误报。受益人评价较高的非政府组织更有可能提交可信的信息。这与向上问责要求排挤为客户社区服务的信念相矛盾。隐瞒请求信息的决定与不准确报告的决定无关，后者归因于能力和技能有限。政策应为基于受益人的评估发挥更大的作用，并增加对簿记活动的支持。