Publication: Government Social Protection Programme Spending and Household Welfare in Lesotho
Loading...
Files in English
13 downloads
Date
2023-03-16
ISSN
0038-2280
1813-6982 (eISSN)
1813-6982 (eISSN)
Published
2023-03-16
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Lesotho has notably high levels of poverty and inequality despite a high level of government spending on social protection programmes. We assess the performance of this spending in reducing consumption poverty and inequality, applying benefit incidence and microsimulation methods to 2017/2018 household survey data. We investigate the distributional effects of actual spending as well as those of a hypothetical alternative in which the spending is targeted through a proxy means test (PMT) formula used by the government for some programmes. We find that government spending on social protection programmes in Lesotho substantially reduces poverty and inequality. For most programmes, the hypothetical alternative of targeting spending to poorer households through the government's PMT formula would have no better distributional effects than current programme spending. The exception is postsecondary education bursaries, which are costly and regressive. Retaining bursaries only for poorer students, and reallocating the outlay this saves to a transfer targeted to poorer households through the government's PMT formula, could reduce poverty and inequality significantly.
Link to Data Set
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Citations
- Cited 1 times in Scopus (view citations)
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Welfare, Shocks, and Government Spending on Social Protection Programs in Lesotho(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-01)This paper assesses the performance of government spending on social protection programs in reducing poverty and inequality in Lesotho, applying benefit incidence and microsimulation methods to 2017-2018 household survey data. The paper investigates the distributional effects of actual spending on social protection programs as well as those of a hypothetical alternative in which the spending is targeted through a proxy means test (PMT) formula used by the government for some programs. In addition, the paper explores the responsiveness of social protection programs to adverse shocks commonly reported by households in Lesotho, where recent natural shocks have had substantial economic effects.Publication Social Protection Program Spending and Household Welfare in Ghana(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-05-01)Ghana administers multiple social protection programs. One, pensions provided by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust, has a long history, but the rest of the programs have been introduced and expanded over the past two decades. This study assesses the performance of the government of Ghana’s main social assistance and social insurance programs. It discusses the main design and implementation parameters of the programs and summarizes existing evaluative and operational research. The study also examines patterns and trends in program benefit spending, based on government administrative data, and the coverage rates of the programs, their incidence, and their effectiveness in reducing poverty and inequality, based on recent national household sample survey data. Further, the study examines the relationship between household participation in social assistance programs and exposure to adverse covariate shocks, specifically, possible weather-related shocks, based on high-resolution climate risk maps for the countryPublication Social Assistance Programs and Household Welfare in Eswatini(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-06)Eswatini has notably high levels of poverty and inequality. Recurrent, negative shocks are an important contributing factor. This study assesses the performance of the largest social assistance programs in Eswatini, based on 2016/17 national household survey data. It examines the coverage rates of these programs, and their incidence and effectiveness in reducing poverty and inequality. The study also examines the association between program participation and negative shocks reported by households, in particular, drought and food price shocks associated with the 2015-2016 El Niño event. Across programs, benefits are concentrated among poor households. However, the performance of programs in reducing poverty and inequality tends to be limited because of low intended or actual benefit levels and shortfalls in intended or actual coverage of the poor. Households that receive program benefits are more likely to report a drought shock. Except in the case of emergency food aid, which is provided ex post, we interpret this pattern to indicate that programs tend to provide ex-ante coverage to those vulnerable to this shock. At a minimum, enhancing the performance of programs in addressing poverty, inequality, and the adverse effects of shocks would require that actual benefit levels equal intended levels (for example, by procuring sufficient food commodities to meet the needs of the school feeding program) and that intended benefit levels are fully aligned with program aims (for example, by providing grant amounts to schools that are large enough to allow for tuition-free government secondary education for orphaned and vulnerable children). Absent greater budgetary allocations to programs, addressing these benefit-related disconnects may require improving the targeting of select program benefits to poorer households such as by using a proxy means test. We simulate the effects of programs on poverty and inequality reduction from such hypothetical reforms.Publication Social Protection Program Spending and Household Welfare in Ghana(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-09-15)Ghana administers multiple social protection programs. One of these, pensions provided by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust, has a long history, but others—the Ghana School Feeding Programme, Labor-Intensive Public Works program, Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty program, and National Health Insurance Scheme—have been introduced and expanded only over the past two decades. Social Protection Program Spending and Household Welfare in Ghana assesses the performance of the government of Ghana’s main social assistance and social insurance programs. The study discusses the programs’ main design and implementation parameters; summarizes existing evaluative and operational research; and examines the patterns and trends in program benefit spending, using government administrative data, and the programs’ coverage rates, incidence, and effectiveness for reducing poverty and inequality, using recent national household sample survey data. Furthermore, the study examines the relationship between household participation in social assistance programs and exposure to adverse covariate shocks—specifically, possible weather-related shocks—on the basis of high-resolution climate risk maps for the country.Publication Social Assistance and Labor Market Programs in Latin America : Methodology and Key Findings from the Social Protection Database(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-06)How much do countries spend on social protection? Do social protection programs cover all poor people? And, how well are they targeted? It is notoriously hard to find comprehensive cross-country data on social protection programs which can help answer such questions and allow to benchmark social protection systems. The World Bank s Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) Social Protection Database attempts to fill these knowledge gaps by collecting and systematizing data on social protection programs from both administrative sources and household surveys. The data assembled provides a powerful tool to study trends and analyze program performance as well as benchmark countries social protection systems. We found both expected and unexpected trends in spending on social protection and coverage of social protection programs across countries. Between 2000 and 2010 expenditure on social assistance nearly tripled. At a program level, conditional cash transfer programs ceased to dominate social assistance spending, with the exception of Mexico, and have come second to social pension spending in Brazil, Uruguay and Chile. Labor market programs remain small and fragmented, but show much more counter-cyclical patterns.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication IFC Annual Report 2005 : Investing in Progress with Experience, Innovation, and Partnership, Volume 1(Washington, D, 2005)The International Finance Corporation is at the forefront of private sector development: it is redefining how poverty can be reduced and lives improved through a stronger private sector in emerging markets. Accomplishing this goal means reaching people, regions, and sectors that have not yet shared in the overall growth of emerging markets. It means innovation-forging new partnerships with governments and other multilateral institutions, identifying new roles for the private sector, creating products that develop financial markets, and making it easier for disadvantaged people to launch a business or own a home. It means building on significant strengths in many countries and industries-helping established enterprises become more competitive and sustainable as they expand their operations or extend their reach into new markets. It also means bringing to developing economies proven products and techniques, both from industrialized countries and, increasingly, from other developing countries. Above all, it means tailoring global expertise to local needs. This annual report outlines the strategic objectives of the institution in expanding access to finance, increasing private participation in key sectors, helping successful enterprises grow, focusing where needs are greatest, and ensuring sustainability.Publication World Bank-Civil Society Engagement(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013)World Bank relations with civil society continued to expand throughout the institution during 2010–12. This evolution was experienced across the spectrum of the "engagement continuum," which includes information disclosure, policy dialogue, strategy consultations, operational collaboration, and institutional partnerships.Publication Extractive Industries and Sustainable Development : An Evaluation of World Bank Group Experience(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2005)This evaluation finds that with its global mandate and experience, comprehensive country development focus, and overarching mission to fight poverty, the World Bank Group is well positioned to help countries overcome the policy, institutional, and technical challenges that prevent them from transforming resource endowments into sustainable benefits. Furthermore, the World Bank Group's achievements are many. On the whole, its extractive industries projects have produced positive economic and financial results, though compliance with its environmental and social safeguards remains a challenge. Its research has broadened and deepened understanding of the causes for the disappointing performance of resource-rich countries. Its guidelines for the mitigation of adverse environmental and social impacts have been widely used and appreciated. More recently, it has begun to address the challenge of country governance with a variety of instruments.Publication Poverty Traps, Aid, and Growth(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-06)The authors examine the empirical evidence in support of the poverty trap view of underdevelopment. They calibrate simple aggregate growth models in which poverty traps can arise due to either low saving or low technology at low levels of development. They then use these models to assess the empirical relevance of poverty traps and their consequences for policy. The authors find little evidence of the existence of poverty traps based on these two broad mechanisms. When put to the task of explaining the persistence of low income in African countries, the models require either unreasonable values for key parameters, or else generate counterfactual predictions regarding the relations between key variables. These results call into question the view that a large scaling-up of aid to the poorest countries is a necessary condition for sharp and sustained increases in growth.Publication 2006 Annual Report on Operations Evaluation(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006)The 2006 Annual Report on Operations Evaluation (AROE) updates the actions taken since the 2004 and 2005 AROEs to strengthen the results focus in monitoring and evaluation (M&E). First, it analyzes the implications of managing for results on Bank operations. Second, it assesses the extent to which the Bank's M&E systems provide staff with the information they need to better manage for results. Third, the report evaluates products and services of the Independent Evaluation Group-World Bank (IEG-WB) as part of a continuous process of self-evaluation and assesses their quality, influence, and use among both internal and external audiences. The report also raises some unresolved issues for further consideration. Finally, it makes recommendations on how M&E can be strengthened to increase the World Bank's effectiveness.