Other Poverty Study
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Publication
Mexico - Analysis of the Information, Monitoring, and Evaluation Guidelines of the Programs in the Public Federal Administration
(World Bank, 2009-04-01)This collection of works represents the results of a 'fee for services' contract with the National Evaluation Council of the Policy for Social Development in Mexico (CONEVAL), enforced between 2007 and 2008. The goal of the job was to provide support to CONEVAL in the strengthening of the general guidelines of evaluation of the federal programmers of the federal public administration that were published in March 2007 by CONEVAL itself, the ministry of the treasury and public credit and the public function. It was for such a purpose that the team of the World Bank worked on four different reports that looked at providing an integral analysis of the guidelines. The four reports include: an executive summary, an institutional analysis of the guidelines, a management tools analysis of the guidelines, and an analysis of the basic information within the context of the guidelines. The guidelines were published to consolidate the vision of the Mexican government to create a 'menu of evaluations' aimed at providing different key users within the public administration with performance information that will serve their different needs. It is within this context that the analysis had as its general objective to analyze the results of the first year of the implementation of the 2007 guidelines and also to reflect on the content of the guidelines based on international experience. -
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Mexico - Improving Productivity for the Urban Poor
(World Bank, 2009-04-01)This report is part of an ongoing dialogue between the World Bank and Secretaria de Desarrollo Social (SEDESOL) on poverty reduction. It builds on the findings and messages of the World Bank poverty programmatic reports, which included a poverty assessment, detailed follow-up analysis of urban and rural poverty, social protection, and poverty and decentralization. This report responds to a request from the SEDESOL for support in refining its programmatic approach to poverty reduction via further analysis and more detailed recommendations and guidance regarding the next generation of poverty reduction/social development programs. This report is the first of three technical pieces agreed with SEDESOL as part of the work program on increasing the productivity of the poor. The two remaining pieces are: a) reviewing international evidence and experience on selected policies and programs; and b) developing the implication for social development/poverty reduction policies and programs in Mexico. This report begins with a short summary of main findings. Chapter one analyzes recent trends in urban poverty, with emphasis in the recovery in poverty levels after the mid-1990s peso crisis. Chapter two discusses the characteristics of the urban poor and their labor market performance. Chapter three reviews the legal and regulatory environment and its affects on labor market performance. Chapters four to six provide assessments of selected interventions to improve the income and job opportunities of the poor, and offers suggestions that could better their results. The last chapter concludes and discusses areas of future work. -
Publication
A Survey of Non-Tariff Measures in the East Asia and Pacific Region
(Washington, DC, 2008-01)This report seeks to give a multifaceted view of non-tariff issues facing countries in the East Asia and Pacific region both vis-a-vis their most important export markets as well as intra-regionally. While the first perspective is important today given the high dependence of East Asian and Latin American countries on the markets of the EU, the US and Japan, the second is important in the context of countries' efforts to bring about ever closer regional integration. A large part of liberalization efforts have in the past focused on reducing tariff barriers to facilitate the integration of goods markets across the world and within particular regions. However, countries which were more serious about integration also recognized early on the importance of eliminating trade-reducing measures other than tariffs, so-called non-tariff measures or NTMs, which, if not already present, often sprung up precisely where tariffs were reduced. Country studies which draw on firm level surveys and interviews with government agencies and exporters' associations in East Asia and Latin America are presented in Part II of this report. -
Publication
Decentralized Service Delivery for the Poor : Volume 2, Background Papers
(Washington, DC, 2006-08)This report on the decentralized service delivery for the poor is structured in two volumes. Volume one is a cross-sectoral report, the core report. The first part includes the program and performance overview which describes the programs (including their poverty goals) and their process of decentralization, the overview of expenditures, the access of the poor to these services, and the evidence on the quality of services. The second part of the core report is on the institutional dimensions of decentralized service delivery which includes the World Development Report (WDR) 2004-type framework of accountability, adapted to the situation in Mexico. Volume two contains the sectoral pieces. For this report-the third phase of a programmatic series of studies on poverty in Mexico-Mexico's social cabinet requested that the Bank analyze service delivery of a specific list of programs that are essential to the government's development strategy in the context of decentralization. The elements of the government's strategy considered here-basic education, health care for the population without social security coverage, local social infrastructure, and local rural development-all aim directly or indirectly to reduce poverty. Both social and economic services shape the opportunities of poor people. Social services contribute to human capital formation and risk management, while economic services shape access to markets. The analysis presented in this report does not pretend to be exhaustive of decentralized service delivery for the poor. Important areas for future research include the following: (i) analysis of the compliance of the law or of the detail regulations in programs; (ii) systematic comparisons of state interventions in the sectors analyzed in this report; (iii) analysis of the implications and requirements to implement per capita funding in health and education, and freedom to choose providers; and (iv) systematic compilation of information at the state and municipal level on the performance of the programs. -
Publication
Decentralized Service Delivery for the Poor
(Washington, DC, 2006-08)This report on the decentralized service delivery for the poor is structured in two volumes. Volume one is a cross-sectoral report, the core report. The first part includes the program and performance overview which describes the programs (including their poverty goals) and their process of decentralization, the overview of expenditures, the access of the poor to these services, and the evidence on the quality of services. The second part of the core report is on the institutional dimensions of decentralized service delivery which includes the World Development Report (WDR) 2004-type framework of accountability, adapted to the situation in Mexico. Volume two contains the sectoral pieces. For this report-the third phase of a programmatic series of studies on poverty in Mexico-Mexico's social cabinet requested that the Bank analyze service delivery of a specific list of programs that are essential to the government's development strategy in the context of decentralization. The elements of the government's strategy considered here-basic education, health care for the population without social security coverage, local social infrastructure, and local rural development-all aim directly or indirectly to reduce poverty. Both social and economic services shape the opportunities of poor people. Social services contribute to human capital formation and risk management, while economic services shape access to markets. The analysis presented in this report does not pretend to be exhaustive of decentralized service delivery for the poor. Important areas for future research include the following: (i) analysis of the compliance of the law or of the detail regulations in programs; (ii) systematic comparisons of state interventions in the sectors analyzed in this report; (iii) analysis of the implications and requirements to implement per capita funding in health and education, and freedom to choose providers; and (iv) systematic compilation of information at the state and municipal level on the performance of the programs. -
Publication
Mexico - Income Generation and Social Protection for the Poor : Volume 3. An Overview of Social Protection
(Washington, DC, 2005-08)This report provides a strategic overview of Mexico's federal social protection system, comprised of both social insurance and social assistance programs. It assesses its performance to date regarding income risk management for vulnerable groups, and identifies options for stepping up that performance. In doing so it responds to an increasing consensus in Mexico regarding the need for a major social protection policy reform, even if the direction of those reforms is still in flux. The report is designed to provide a first stage diagnostic of major issues facing the social protection system, as an input to ongoing discussion and debate in Mexico, and as a platform for further technical work on the specifics of reform. The report focuses on the role of federal government in the design and implementation of social protection policies, while recognizing that sub-national governments are playing an important role in the provision of these services. In doing so, it draws upon the first phase of the Mexico Programmatic Poverty Work, as well as the urban, rural and vulnerability studies conducted in parallel with this analysis. The report is organized into four chapters. Chapter 1 presents a brief review of social protection concepts, and establishes a framework for determining the optimal role for government in the provision of social protection (risk management) tools, as distinct from market-provided risk management tools, and those undertaken informally by and between households. Chapter 2 discusses the major sources of income vulnerability in Mexico, identifying the major risks that Mexican families faces, and explores the extent to which households have access to private risk management mechanisms for addressing these risks. Chapter 3 provides an overview and assessment of the social protection system in Mexico, and finally Chapter 4 discusses issues and options. -
Publication
Mexico - Income Generation and Social Protection for the Poor : Volume 2. Urban Poverty in Mexico
(Washington, DC, 2005-08)Half of the moderately poor, and one third of the extremely poor now live in urban areas in Mexico. While cities offer a number of opportunities and specific challenges for the poor, low quality and high costs restrict real access to basic public services. Yet, the urban-rural distinctions need to be seen as a continuum, where depth and characteristics of poverty vary with settlement size. The objective of this report is to inform the design of urban poverty interventions. It is organized as follows. The first section - comprising three chapters - examines what we know about the urban poor, seeking to understand better the dimensions of urban poverty. Chapter 2 considers the relationship between urban poverty and macroeconomic trends, and examines the poor's coping mechanisms, as well as the principal public programs available to them. Chapter 3 relies on a recent survey conducted by Mexico, to look in more depth at life in Mexico's poor urban barrios (neighborhoods). Section two of the report discusses some of the key challenges facing the urban poor, namely how to integrate labor markets and access "good" jobs (chapter 4), while Chapter 5, looks into how to protect - themselves - against income shocks by accumulating assets or accessing financial services. -
Publication
Mexico - Income Generation and Social Protection for the Poor : Volume 1. Integrated Executive Summary
(Washington, DC, 2005-08)This document summarizes the findings of three reports: Urban Poverty in Mexico, Mexico: a Study of Rural Poverty, and Mexico: an Overview of Social Protection, and, focuses on 1) the generation of income opportunities for the urban and rural poor, and, 2) social protection for the poor. The main messages can be summarized as follows. The poor are a heterogeneous group; importantly, long-term income-generating opportunities and coping strategies differ significantly between urban and rural areas, among different regions, between small and larger cities, and even within neighborhoods. This translates into having urban poor limited to low-quality jobs, marked by low productivity and with limited social protection. Additionally, to continue supporting the rural poor move out of poverty, it is important to increase agricultural productivity, especially for small- and medium-sized farmers, and facilitate their diversification into rural non-farm activities (RNF) of higher agricultural value-added. The rural poor depend mainly on self-subsistence agriculture, self-employment, and non-agricultural activities, and have typically not completed primary education. Conversely, the urban poor depend on access to salaried employment, on non-agricultural activities, mainly as employees in manufacturing or services, and have not completed lower secondary education. Since its inception in the 1940s, Mexico's social protection system has not been well-suited to respond to the risks the poor face. A key conclusion of this report is that geographical location must be taken into account, in order to design adequate poverty interventions - income generation opportunities and social protection needs vary depending upon the poor's location. -
Publication
Mexico - Income Generation and Social Protection for the Poor : Volume 4. A Study of Rural Poverty in Mexico
(Washington, DC, 2005-08)This study is part of the second phase of a long-term programmatic work on poverty in Mexico, in three phases being carried out by the Bank at the request of the Government of Mexico. Reasons for a study on rural poverty, are because the size and intensity of the phenomenon, poverty, and inequality in rural Mexico are a matter of concern not only from the well-being of the poors' point of view, but also from that of the expansion of the internal market, inclusion of large sectors of the population traditionally excluded from the economic and social mainstream, and, the political integration and stability of the country. Poverty incidence in rural areas, in particular extreme poverty, is much higher than in urban ones. Although most of the country's moderate poor live in urban areas, most of the extreme poor are rural, even if the rural population is only one quarter of total. There are differences in sources of income between rural and urban poor. Also, rural environment poses specific constraints for provision of social infrastructure and services. Furthermore, institutions and culture tend to differ between rural and urban areas. The presence of indigenous groups is much larger in rural areas, whereas the production systems, the economic and other risks faced by rural poor and their coping strategies, usually largely differ from those of their urban peers. Mexico needs to move away from a fragmented social protection system, to a unified framework which nonetheless tailors different programs to different contexts in rural and urban areas. The study treats poverty as a multidimensional phenomenon intrinsically relative, with deep cultural aspects, and discusses the merits and limitations of quantifying poverty, in terms of measurable incomes and income lines. This report is organized as follows. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the evolution of poverty and inequality in the rural areas of Mexico in the decades between 1992 and 2002, while Chapter 3 looks more closely on what happened to rural incomes, employment, labor markets and the characteristics of rural labor force in the same period. Chapter 4 is devoted to examine the relation between poverty and the agricultural economy; Chapter 5 reviews the main agriculture, land and rural development policies and programs operating in Mexico, and examines them from the perspective of poverty friendliness; and, Chapter 6 starts with a theoretical discussion of the issues and challenges usually faced in the implementation of development policies and programs. Finally, Chapter 7 brings a more multidimensional and qualitative view, looking at how different types of rural poor can experience their poverty situation, including strategies to survive, manage risk and achieve petty accumulation, and, Chapter 8 concludes with a summary of policy options to reduce rural poverty in Mexico. -
Publication
Poverty in Mexico : An Assessment of Conditions, Trends, and Government Strategy
(World Bank, Mexico, D.F., 2004-06-01)This report presents the results of an assessment of poverty conditions in Mexico, and of the Government strategies to reduce poverty. It constitutes the first phase of a longer-term work program on poverty reduction in Mexico that the Bank is undertaking in collaboration with the Government during the period 2003-2006. The current situation in the country is mixed, with respect to poverty. In terms of well-being, Mexico has experienced major progress in some dimensions - notably related to basic service access - but much weaker progress on others - notably on the income of the poor. Despite the gains between 1996 and 2002, and in particular, for the extreme poor, poverty remains widespread, and is only slightly below the levels prevailing before the 1994-1995 crisis. The report relates to government strategy, and its strengths. The CONTIGO framework is excellent as a conceptual framework, especially in its attempt to integrate the multiple dimensions of well-being, and public action into a life-cycle approach. There are notable successes in specific programs -with "Oportunidades" (i.e., "Opportunities ") unusual in its combination of highly effective targeting, and broad reach amongst the extreme poor. The emphasis on evaluation is commendable, while the recent introduction of the Ley de Desarrollo Social (Social Development Law) is a potentially valuable attempt to institutionalize the social development strategy, and in particular, provide more continuity across government administrations. But challenges still remain. The quality of services is a major issue in many sectors, for although social policies for the extreme poor are well developed, policies for their income growth are not. There is a broader pending agenda for the moderate poor, especially with respect to improving the productivity of the self-employed and informal enterprises. Most of the extreme and moderate poor fall outside the formal social protection system, and face significant risks, i.e., health, unemployment or lack of income in old age. And there are a wide range of institutional issues to be tackled - from strengthening accountability, especially under decentralized structures, to social incorporation of excluded groups - as well as linking of rigorous evaluation to results-based management.