Publication: Targeting in Ultra-Poor Settings: Evidence from Six Countries in Rural Sahel
Loading...
Other Files
117 downloads
Date
2022-10-21
ISSN
Published
2022-10-21
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
The main insights of this note are as follows: first, to significantly reduce poverty higher budgets for safety net interventions are needed, and expanding coverage is far more important than fine-tuning targeting methods. After geographical targeting, most PMT and CBT methods perform close to a random allocation of benefits when trying to identify food insecure households. While PMT consistently outperforms CBT in identifying households with the lowest consumption, differences are small when distances to the poverty line are considered. While non-beneficiaries experience significant indirect economic benefits from the program, there is mixed and limited evidence on social cohesion and fairness perceptions of targeting methods. Finally, costs are relatively minor as a share of total resources transferred. The policy note concludes with policy and research implications for contexts with high poverty rates, low inequality levels, and insufficient budgets.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Schnitzer, Pascale; Guardia, Anne Della; Lake, Milli. 2022. Targeting in Ultra-Poor Settings: Evidence from Six Countries in Rural Sahel. SASPP Operational and Policy Notes;. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/38319 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Safety Nets in Contexts of Violence, Fragility and Forced Displacement(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-08-21)The rapid expansion of social safety nets in contexts affected by violence, fragility and forced displacement raises questions about whether such programs can relieve the worst forms of insecurity and vulnerability in affected communities. To answer this question, the authors analyze 394 qualitative interviews from Burkina Faso and Cameroon (West and Central Africa). As the first study of its kind conducting cross-country comparative research in varied security contexts, the authors posit three channels – material, social, and political – through which social protection can shape experiences of violence, fragility and forced displacement. The authors found that social assistance, or social safety nets, built resilience by smoothing consumption and relieving the pressure of unanticipated shocks while programs were ongoing. However, because many of the most vulnerable inhabitants directed transfer spending towards immediate subsistence needs, safety nets rarely resulted in additional income-generating opportunities or enduring material effects beyond the program’s conclusion. Although trends diverged across regions and security contexts, the authors identified tentative evidence of social and political effects, in the form of expanded social networks, cohesion and interdependence among some beneficiary groups, and greater confidence in existing institutions when beneficiaries attributed the safety net to the government. The authors examined these impacts across regions facing distinct levels and types of insecurity.Publication Targeted Transfers in Poor Countries : Revisiting the Tradeoffs and Policy Options(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2003-05)Two tradeoffs have been widely seen to severely constrain the scope for attacking poverty using redistributive transfers in poor countries: an equity-efficiency tradeoff and an insurance-efficiency tradeoff. The author provides a critical overview of recent theoretical and empirical work that has called into question the extent of these tradeoffs in poor countries. He argues that these aggregate tradeoffs are often exaggerated. Indeed, they may not even be binding constraints in practice, given market failures. There appears to be scope for using carefully designed transfer schemes as an effective tool against both transient and chronic poverty. However, the same factors that weaken the tradeoffs also suggest that efficient redistributive policies might look rather different to the programs often found in practice.Publication Targeting for Social Safety Nets(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-10)Proxy-Means Testing (PMT) and Community-Based Targeting (CBT) are among the most widely used methods for poverty targeting in low-income settings. This paper analyzes household data from nine programs implemented in the Sahel region using a harmonized approach to compare PMT and CBT selection as conducted in practice, once geographical targeting has been applied. The results show that the targeting performance measured depends critically on the definition of the targeting objectives, share of beneficiaries selected, and indexes used to evaluate targeting. While PMT performs better in reaching the poorest households based on per capita consumption, it differs little from CBT, or a random or universal allocation of benefits when distances to poverty lines are considered. When aiming to identify food insecure households, most PMT and CBT targeting schemes perform no better than a random allocation of benefits. On the other hand, targeting costs represent only a small share of budgets. Overall, the results emphasize the need to study programs as implemented in practice instead of relying on simulations of targeting performance, as widely used by practitioners and academics. Taken together, the findings suggest that while there may be a need to select households resulting from budget constraints, PMT and CBT contribute little to poverty or food insecurity reduction efforts in poor and homogeneous settings.Publication Efficiency, Legitimacy and Impacts of Targeting Methods(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-04-18)The methods to select safety net beneficiaries are the subject of frequent policy debates. This paper presents the results from a randomized experiment analyzing how efficiency, legitimacy, and short-term program effectiveness vary across widely used targeting methods. The experiment was embedded in the roll-out of a national cash transfer program in Niger. Eligible villages were randomly assigned to have beneficiary households selected through community-based targeting, a proxy-means test, or a formula designed to identify the food-insecure. Proxy-means testing is found to outperform other methods in identifying households with lower consumption per capita. The methods perform similarly against other welfare benchmarks. Legitimacy is high across all methods, but local populations have a slight preference for formula-based approaches. Manipulation and information imperfections are found to affect community-based targeting, although triangulation across multiple selection committees mitigates the related risks. Finally, short-term program impacts on food security are largest among households selected by proxy-means testing. Overall, the differences in performance across targeting methods are small relative to the overall level of exclusion stemming from limited funding for social programs.Publication Belarus - Social Assistance Policy Note : Improving Targeting Accuracy of Social Assistance Programs(Washington, DC, 2011-05)Belarus has a large and extensive social protection system (SP) covering a significant share of the population. Belarus has adopted a single methodology for calculating income to target Public Targeted Social Assistance (GASP). This methodology also is used when testing an applicant's income/means for some of the child benefits. To reduce the leakage of benefits to the non-poor while expanding GASP, this note assesses the usefulness of applying a Hybrid-Means-Test method (HMT), a variation of the means-testing method that combines means testing and proxy-means testing. All outcomes in this note have been estimated on the basis of the 2008 Belarusian Household Budget Survey (2008 HBS). The HMT model improves estimates of 'means' by generating a predicted value for hard-to-verify incomes, which are then added to the observed (reported) values of easy-to-verify incomes. In this way, the HMT model can improve predictions of per capita households (HH) income. The note is divided in six sections. In section one, the authors present an overview of the current social safety net (SSN) programs in Belarus, their design features, number of beneficiaries, and eligibility criteria to draw the overall picture of the types of programs delivered in Belarus and the magnitude of their public spending. Section two reviews the targeting accuracy of existent SP programs in Belarus. Section three analyzes whether HMT can be an option for targeting in Belarus. Section four presents the HMT formulae. In section five the authors describe how HMT also can be used for client profiling of beneficiaries. In section six, the authors conclude by discussing the results of some simulations about the targeting accuracy of the HMT method.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Global Economic Prospects, January 2023(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-01-10)Global growth is projected to decelerate sharply, reflecting synchronous policy tightening aimed at containing very high inflation, worsening financial conditions, and continued disruptions from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Investment growth in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) is expected to remain below its average rate of the past two decades. Further adverse shocks could push the global economy into recession. Small states are especially vulnerable to such shocks because of the reliance on external trade and financing, limited economic diversification, elevated debt, and susceptibility to natural disasters. Against this backdrop, it is critical that EMDE policy makers ensure that any fiscal support is focused on vulnerable groups, that inflation expectations remain well anchored, and that financial systems continue to be resilient. Urgent global and national efforts are also needed to mitigate the risks of global recession and debt distress in EMDEs, and to support a major increase in EMDE investment.Publication Digital Opportunities in African Businesses(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-16)Adoption of digital technologies is widely acknowledged to boost productivity and employment, stimulate investment, and promote growth and development. Africa has already benefited from a rapid diffusion of information and communications technology, characterized by the widespread adoption of mobile phones. However, access to and use of digital technology among firms is uneven in the region, varying not just among countries but also within them. Consequently, African businesses may not be reaping the full potential benefits offered by ongoing improvements in digital infrastructure. Using rich datasets, “Digital Opportunities in African Businesses” offers a new understanding of the region’s incomplete digitalization—namely, shortfalls in the adoption and effective use of digital technology by firms to perform productive tasks. The research presented here also highlights the challenges in addressing incomplete digitalization, finding that the cost of machinery, equipment, and software, as well as the cost of connectivity to the internet, is significantly more expensive in Africa than elsewhere. “Digital Opportunities in African Businesses” outlines ways in which the private sector, with support from policy makers, international institutions, and regulators, can help bring down these costs, stimulating more widespread digitalization of the region’s firms, thereby boosting productivity and, by extension, economic development. This book will be relevant to anyone with an interest in furthering digitalization across Africa.Publication Women, Business and the Law 2023(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-02)“Women, Business and the Law 2023” is the ninth in a series of annual studies measuring the laws and regulations that affect women’s economic opportunity in 190 economies. The project presents eight indicators structured around women’s interactions with the law as they move through their lives and careers: Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension. The 2023 edition identifies barriers to women’s economic participation and encourages reform of discriminatory laws. This year, the study also includes research, a literature review, and analysis of 53 years of reforms for women’s rights. Examining the economic decisions that women make throughout their working lives as well as tracking regulatory changes from 1970 to today, the study makes an important contribution to research and policy discussions about the state of women’s economic opportunities. By presenting powerful examples of change and highlighting the gaps still remaining, “Women, Business and the Law 2023” is a vital tool in ensuring economic empowerment for all. Data in “Women, Business and the Law 2023” are current as of October 1, 2022.Publication State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2018(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2018-05-22)The State and Trends of Carbon Pricing series reflects on the growing momentum for carbon pricing worldwide. It targets the wide audience of public and private stakeholders engaged in carbon pricing design and implementation. This report provides an up-to-date overview of existing and emerging carbon pricing instruments around the world, including national and subnational initiatives. It also investigates trends surrounding the development of carbon pricing instruments and how they could accelerate to deliver long-term mitigation goals.Publication Anticipating Large and Widespread Seasonal Deprivation in the Sahel(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2021-11)In addition to being regularly confronted with unpredictable shocks such as floods, droughts, or conflicts, Sahelian households have to deal with the effects of seasonality. This leads to a significant reduction in food and non-food consumption across the season, exposing the poor to transient food insecurity and malnutrition.