Hurting pockets: A case study of Peru’s legal obligations in transparency and justification of public expenditure in state advertising

Public procurement of advertising is a matter of constant debate inmany countries around the world. At one point in Peru, during 2018, hiring privatemedia outlets to broadcast or publish state advertising was prohibited by law.Taking into account the ensuing controversy in Peru, this study assesses stateadvertising investment in the South American country, and examines whethercertain public entities (government ministries) have complied with the obligationsof justification, transparency and prohibitions provided for by the law that regu-lates state advertising. The findings of this study point to a worrying level ofnoncompliance. We display these results in a systematized manner and comple-ment them with a qualitative analysis of the justification given by public entitiesfor spending on advertising, as well as the accountability they provide (or shouldprovide)ex-post.