Publication: Philippines: Can Subsidized Microloans Increase Toilet Ownership and Use for Poor Households?
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Date
2020-11
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Published
2020-11
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Abstract
The World Bank’s Strategic Impact Evaluation Fund supported a randomized controlled trial from 2015-2018 to assess the extent to which subsidized microloans can enable households to build and use improved toilets. The loans, which carried zero interest, included toilet installation and were offered to poor beneficiaries who also received sanitation behavior change promotion as part of a social safety net program. The large financial subsidy led to modestly higher coverage of improved toilets, better toilet quality, and greater satisfaction, while the small subsidy did not improve access to improved sanitation. Among those who took out the subsidized loans, 59 percent already had improved toilets, which explains the limited effects on improved sanitation and open defecation. Overall, these findings suggest that subsidy programs hold promise, but need to be better targeted.
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“World Bank. 2020. Philippines: Can Subsidized Microloans Increase Toilet Ownership and Use for Poor Households?. From Evidence to Policy;. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34897 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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