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The Political Economy of Targeted Safety Nets

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dc.contributor.authorOuerghi, Azedine
dc.date.accessioned2012-08-13T16:01:10Z
dc.date.available2012-08-13T16:01:10Z
dc.date.issued2005-01
dc.description.abstractTo be successful, Social Safety Net (SSN) programs require three elements of policy design: technical correctness, administrative feasibility and political viability; yet the politically supportable aspect is often neglected. In this note, several features of political economy applicable to the choice, design, and implementation of safety net programs are discussed: modeling the electoral politics of targeting; the roles of attitudes and perceptions; centralized versus localized control; internal and organizational politics, and finally, politics and the different social objectives of safety ropes and safety nets. The note discusses the political viability of any SSN program, profoundly influenced by corruption and the perceptions of horizontal equity, process and administrative fairness, and effectiveness. Corruption subverts all three perceptions, and so is especially damaging to political support. Moreover, changes in the average poverty rate mask enormous "churning" as households move in and out of poverty. This volatility creates the demand not just for transfer programs to those whose incomes are chronically low (safety nets), but also for insurance-like programs that would pay off not only when income was absolutely low, but also when households experienced negative shocks (safety ropes). While safety "nets" seek to minimize income or expenditure poverty, the objective of safety "ropes" is to mitigate risk. If the targeting of social programs is judged exclusively on poverty or benefit incidence based on a cross sectional snapshot, then risk mitigation programs benefiting households who have suffered large shocks, but who are not "poor" may appear to have large "leakage" when in fact they are simply serving an alternative social objective. While a "safety net" program might be more popular, the more effectively it transfers from richer to poorer households, a "safety rope" program might cause little net redistribution, but be popular because it serves an important insurance function.en
dc.identifierhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/01/6240095/political-economy-targeted-safety-nets
dc.identifier.doi10.1596/11784
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/11784
dc.languageEnglish
dc.publisherWorld Bank, Washington, DC
dc.relation.ispartofseriesSocial Safety Nets Primer Notes; No. 20
dc.rightsCC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holderWorld Bank
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/
dc.subjectADMINISTRATIVE FEASIBILITY
dc.subjectBENEFICIARIES
dc.subjectCORRUPTION
dc.subjectHUMAN DEVELOPMENT
dc.subjectIMPLEMENTATION AGENCIES
dc.subjectINCOME
dc.subjectINSURANCE
dc.subjectPOLITICAL ECONOMY
dc.subjectPOLITICAL SUPPORT
dc.subjectPOOR
dc.subjectPRICE STABILIZATION
dc.subjectPUBLIC WORKS
dc.subjectSAFETY NET PROGRAMS
dc.subjectSOCIAL PROGRAMS
dc.subjectSOCIAL SAFETY NETS
dc.subjectSOCIAL SPENDING
dc.subjectSSN
dc.subjectTARGETING
dc.subjectTAXATION
dc.subjectTHEORETICAL MODELS
dc.subjectTRANSFER PROGRAMS
dc.titleThe Political Economy of Targeted Safety Netsen
dc.title.alternativeLa economia politica de las redes de proteccion focalizadasen
dspace.entity.typePublication
okr.date.doiregistration2025-04-29T09:37:21.121416Z
okr.doctypePublications & Research::Brief
okr.doctypePublications & Research
okr.docurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/01/6240095/political-economy-targeted-safety-nets
okr.guid598901468150584853
okr.guid628081468137398999
okr.guid124311468141263747
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum000012009_20050822123517
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum6240095
okr.identifier.report33370
okr.language.supporteden
okr.pdfurlhttp://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2005/08/22/000012009_20050822123517/Rendered/PDF/333700SSNPrimerNote20.pdfen
okr.unitSocial Protection Team (HDNSP)
okr.volume1 of 1
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