Person:
del Ninno, Carlo
Author Name Variants
Fields of Specialization
Social protection
Degrees
Departments
Global Practice for Social Protection and Labor, The World Bank
Externally Hosted Work
Contact Information
Last updated
January 31, 2023
Biography
Carlo del Ninno is a senior economist in the Social Protection Africa Unit of the World Bank, working on several aspects of safety net policies and programs. He previously worked in the Social Protection and Labor practice of the Human Development Network at the World Bank. Over the past 10 years, he has worked on analytical and operational issues on safety net programs covering several countries in Africa and South Asia. Before joining the World Bank, he worked on food security for the International Food Policy Research Institute in Bangladesh, and on poverty analysis in several countries for the Policy Research Division of the World Bank and Cornell University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and has published on safety nets, food policy, and food security.
Publication Search Results
1 - 4 of 4
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Publication
Improving Payment Mechanisms in Cash-Based Safety Net Programs
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-08)Cash transfers have proliferated in the past decade as key policy instruments to tackle vulnerability and inequality. Payment mechanisms (PMs), the backbone of cash transfers, are the channels through which cash travels from the funding source to the hands of beneficiaries. In theory, the harmonization of payment flows in PMs with other program processes is critical to delivering the right benefit to the right people at the right time while minimizing costs. In reality, however, PMs tend to remain disconnected, rendering payments inefficient and plagued by error, fraud and corruption. In recent years, program operators, financial institutions, and technology innovators have developed strategies for streamlining payment flows. These innovations, if properly integrated into program management through a Management Information System (MIS) and supported by rigorous outreach, can not only promote efficiency and transparency but also ensure effectiveness. This paper provides a framework for integrating PMs within program management. It walks the reader through seven basic steps to process payments. It does so by articulating the flow of beneficiary information and funds from the point of beneficiary enrollment to payment reconciliation and grievance redress. It also looks at the framework through the lenses of different cash transfer interventions and the cases of Kenya, Rwanda, and Mexico. The paper concludes that to execute successful PMs it is key to: (i) integrate payments within an MIS; (ii) adopt a cost-effective mix of traditional and technology instruments suitable to the country's context in the short and long run; (iii) decentralize the control and accountability of service provision across government levels; (iv) understand the capacity and incentives of stakeholders; (v) provide manuals, training and information to key players; and (vi) enforce payment parameters and penalize their violation. -
Publication
Price and Tax Subsidies : Effectiveness and Challenges
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2003-01)Many governments use price and tax subsidization to meet social protection objectives. They endeavor to reduce the cost of living for their population-or for a subset of the population-by subsidizing the price of goods or services in lieu of, or in addition to, direct income transfers. While these subsidies may distort production incentives, subsidize the non-poor more than the poor, and limit consumer choice, there are reasons why a government may choose to use some forms of pricing policy rather than make income transfers to help the poor. -
Publication
Demand-Side Subsidies for Housing
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2003-01)Several governments in developing countries have been using demand-side programs to increase access to housing services among the poor. From the perspective of a social safety net, the main justification for providing housing assistance is that adequate shelter is a basic need that governments have a responsibility to help to fulfill, especially during times of hardship. In transition countries, assisting the poor with their housing-related expenditures can mitigate the hardship caused by planned price increases. The introduction of housing assistance in such cases makes it possible to implement reforms such as price increases or deregulation. -
Publication
For Protection and Promotion : The Design and Implementation of Effective Safety Nets
(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2008)All countries fund safety net programs for the protection of their people. Though an increasing number of safety net programs are extremely well thought out, adroitly implemented, and demonstrably effective, many others are not. This book aims to assist those concerned with social policy to understand why countries need social assistance, what kind of safety programs will serve those best and how to develop such programs for maximum effectiveness. Safety nets are part of a broader poverty reduction strategy interacting with and working alongside of social insurance; health, education, and financial services; the provision of utilities and roads; and other policies aimed at reducing poverty and managing risk. Though useful, safety nets are not a panacea, and there are real concerns over whether they are affordable and administratively feasible or desirable in light of the various negative incentives they might create. In most settings where there is political will to do so, such concerns can be managed through a number of prudent design and implementation features. Much information and innovation exist on these topics; this book summarizes, references, and builds on this knowledge base to promote well-crafted safety nets and safety net policy.