56751 Safety Nets Primer The World Bank September 2009 Number 31 How to Make Public Works Work: A Review of the Experiences P ublic work programs (PWPs) have been an impor- tant safety nets instrument used in diverse country circumstances at different points in time in both middle income and low income countries. Well-designed and implemented PWPs can help mitigating income Figure 1: Workfare Program Objectives Bridge to self- empl. 5% Guarantee shocks; the programs can also be used to reduce poverty. 6% 1-time shock 38% ALMP This paper reviews the experience with PWPs in several coun- 8% tries over the past 20 years to delineate use patterns and to determine the factors contributing to its use as a successful Seasonal safety net program. This is done by reviewing cross-coun- 16% try variations in the design, implementation procedures Anti-poverty and delivery models followed by an assessment of meth- 27% ods for monitoring and evaluation specific to public works. Source: Author's calculation. Note: This analysis is based on 30 countries implementing a total of 37 PWPs. Objectives and rationale of PWPs PWPs are launched with various objectives in mind. Pro- Design features and implementation viding to poor households a source of income by creat- ing temporary jobs is the most important motivation. The design features of a workfare program fall into four In practice the objective of raising the income of the broad groups: poor can be achieved by a number of specific objec- tives. These include: mitigation for covariate shocks (both (a) Key features that reflect the core characteristics of unexpected and seasonal), mitigation for idiosyncratic the program wage and which significantly influence its shocks, antipoverty, and workfare as a bridge to more overall cost and labor absorption potential, such as the permanent employment. In addition PWPs also have level of the wage rate, and the degree of labor intensity complementary objectives of generating infrastructure of works undertaken. In general, most of the countries for the community, which may in turn lead to secondary reviewed did succeed in maintaining the program wage employment/income benefits or otherwise raise welfare. relatively low, among which some countries fared better than others. In countries where the program was kept Figure 1 shows the distribution of programs by objectives. lower than the market wage, a certain degree of self- Out of 37 PWPs for which we have information on objec- selection of the poor into the program may have occurred. tives, 38 percent of projects were initiated to counteract In almost two-thirds of the projects for which informa- the negative effects of one-time covariate shocks (such as tion is available, labor intensity is higher than 60 percent macroeconomic crises or natural disasters), 27 percent as an clearly reflecting the fact that PWPs do provide significant anti-poverty instrument and 16 percent to counter season- benefits by way of short term employment to workers. al unemployment. All other motives appear to be minimal.. This note is based on del Ninno, Carlo, Kalanidhi Subbarao, and Annamaria Milazzo (2009). How to Make Public Works Work: A Review of the Experiences. World Bank SPDP No. 0905. (b) Features that strongly influence the effectiveness of improvements in effectiveness and impact. Evaluation of the program as a safety net, such as targeting method, public works are necessary to: a) provide feedback dur- and seasonality of operations. In the review of PWPs, the ing the life of the program to help improve its effective- most popular targeting method is a combination of self- ness; b) make projects accountable to the public; and selection and other (such as geographic or community tar- c) help inform government decisions about spending geting) whereas the least popular method is self-selection allocations. Despite their value, effective M&E systems alone. The use of multiple targeting methods may render for public works programs have been rare. The Produc- the identification of the neediest more accurate, improv- tive Safety Net Program in Ethiopia provides an illustra- ing the targeting performance. Country experiences differ tion on how to set up a good M&E framework clear- a great deal with respect to the seasonality of works activ- ly delineating objectives and its monitoring indicators. ity. Some countries have opted to run the program only during the agricultural slack in which the program would The findings from available evaluations show that PWPs serve "consumption-smoothing" function. Some countries were able to target poorer households and positively im- have opted to run the program throughout the year with pact their income and well-being in Argentina, Ethiopia, varying degrees of intensity providing both "insurance" India, Peru, Colombia, and a few other countries. PWPs also and "consumption-smoothing" for poor households. had several secondary and indirect effects on communi- ties through assets created and employment benefits. (c) Financing and implementation modalities. Across regions the sustainability of the program and its imple- Concluding observations and way ahead menting apparatus varied a great deal depending mostly on the availability of funding. For example, the unpredict- This review suggests that, for PWPs to be successful, it ability of donor funding, and the stop-and-go nature of is important firstly to: a) have clear objectives; b) select the program in many African countries has hampered projects that can create valuable public goods; and c) efficiency and reduced its effectiveness in accomplishing ensure predictable funding. Secondly, the success of the its main objectives. In much of South Asia, on the other program depends critically on careful design and incor- hand, the program is largely domestically funded, is sus- poration of all the key design features. Finally, a cred- tained over time, thus creating significant within country ible monitoring and evaluation system designed right capacity to expand or contract the program as needed, up front, prior to launching of the program can allow and virtually playing the role of unemployment insurance. for mid course corrections and to respond to sudden changes which can inhibit effective implementation. (d) Features that impinge on the quality of the as- sets created and maintenance. In most of the PWPs The potential of the PWP is enormous both in coun- reviewed, no practical arrangements were put in place tries that have experiences with these programs and to ensure supervision and maintenance. This neglect especially in countries that never used them. However, can be attributed in large part to the lack of a sense of more research is needed to better understand the im- local ownership of the projects, since community in- pact of PWPs, such as second round effects from the volvement in project design was not actively sought. created assets, the impacts on the labor market, and their cost-effectiveness after factoring in both the im- Monitoring and evaluation of PWPs mediate and second round benefits from the program. Strong monitoring systems are necessary to support cred- ible program evaluations and to provide feedback for The World Bank Social Safety Nets Primer series is intended to provide a practical resource for those engaged in the design and implementa- tion of safety net programs around the world. Readers will find information on good practices for a variety of types of interventions, coun- try contexts, themes and target groups, as well as current thinking on the role of social safety nets in the broader development agenda. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed herein are those of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Ex- ecutive Directors of The World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data in- cluded in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judge- ment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. 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