Perova, ElizavetaVakis, Renos2013-11-142013-11-142013-07978-612-46470-0-0https://hdl.handle.net/10986/16259Peruvian public policy is currently focused on economic growth with social inclusion. The Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion (MIDIS)-created in October 2011-leads the sector and promotes evidence-based public policy using three strategic guidelines: 1) matching criteria and mechanisms for the selection of areas and target population, 2) generation of instruments for inter-sectorial and inter-governmental result-based coordination, and 3) activation of monitoring and evaluation procedures to measure interventions' progress and results. This study is about the incredible and frequently underestimated role of agency-the ability to make choices to achieve desired outcomes-in economic development. The authors share the view that agency has inherent value for development: it is an attribute and manifestation of development, or using Sen's words, it is constituent to development. This study however, focuses on the instrumental role of agency for more tangible manifestations of development, such as, poverty reduction and economic growth. It attempts to show that expanding individual agency is a powerful catalyst for improving welfare, as measured by these concrete and widely used metrics of policy success. Moreover, it argues that in many cases, improving development outcomes through agency is highly cost-effective. This study centers on several policy initiatives in Peru, which as will be subsequently shown, have improved the agency of their beneficiaries. The purpose of this study is twofold. First, it aims at bridging this information gap, providing a review of evidence that shows how the psychological components of agency, such as aspirations and self-esteem, can effectively contribute to more traditional development objectives-ranging from higher investments in human capital to increased income. Second, the study reviews and synthesizes research on several policy interventions in Peru, which have empowered their beneficiaries. In this way, the study aims to derive practical recommendations on how to incorporate psychological elements of agency into policy interventions in order to achieve better development outcomes. The study is structured as follows: the next section discusses the concept of agency, providing examples of its broad role in achieving development objectives. The following section reviews the quantitative and qualitative research that served as the basis for this study and elaborates on the methodologies used to derive the conclusions presented in the ensuing section. The last section synthesizes the conclusions of the review of different interventions in Peru into six practical 'policy lessons'.Este estudio está enfocado en el rol instrumental de la capacidad de acción y decisión – o sea la habilidad para tomar decisiones a fin de lograr los resultados deseados – en lo que refiere al desarrollo económico. El argumento del estudio es que además de tener un valor inherente con respecto al desarrollo, la capacidad de acción y decisión es un catalizador poderoso para mejorar el bienestar, tal como éste es medido en forma concreta y amplia con respecto al éxito del desarrollo, en aspectos como la reducción de la pobreza, la acumulación de activos y las inversiones en capital humano. Muestra también que el hecho de mejorar los resultados del desarrollo por medio de la capacidad de acción y decisión podría ser de un elevado costo efectivo, y propone sugerencias concretas sobre cómo mejorar la efectividad de las políticas y de las intervenciones al incorporar en su diseño elementos para mejorar la capacidad de acción y decisión. Estas sugerencias tienen como base el análisis cualitativo y cuantitativo de tres programas que se llevan a cabo en el Perú: un programa de educación financiera Corredor Puno Cusco, un programa nacional de Transferencia Condicional de Efectivo (CCT) programa Juntos, y las Innovadoras Intervenciones Socio-económicas contra la Tuberculosis proyecto (ISIAT). A través de entrevistas con los beneficiarios, con el personal y con miembros de la comunidad y de un análisis econométrico, el estudio trata de desentrañar los mecanismos que están detrás de los cambios en la capacidad de acción y decisión de los beneficiarios, y derivarlos en concretas lecciones de política, aplicables a otras circunstancias y programas.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOABUSEACCESS TO CREDITADMINISTRATIVE BURDENADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORTBANK ACCOUNTBANK ACCOUNTSBANKING SECTORBANKING SYSTEMBANKSBASIC FINANCIAL LITERACYBEHAVIORAL ECONOMICSBENEFICIARIESBENEFICIARYBENEFICIARY PARTICIPATIONBEQUESTBOTH SEXESCALCULATIONCALCULATIONSCASH CROPSCASH TRANSFERCASH TRANSFERSCITIZENCOMMERCIAL BANKCOMMUNITY INVOLVEMENTCOMMUNITY LEADERSCOMMUNITY WORKSHOPCOMMUNITY WORKSHOPSCONSUMERCONTRIBUTIONCONTRIBUTIONSCONTROL OVER RESOURCESCREDIBILITYCREDIT LINECREDIT PRODUCTSCREDITSCRIMECURRICULUMDEBTSDECISION MAKINGDEPOSITDEPOSITSDEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVESDISCRIMINATIONDISSEMINATIONDIVERSIFICATIONDOMESTIC VIOLENCEDRUG USEDRUGSEARNINGSECONOMETRIC ANALYSISECONOMIC ACTIVITIESECONOMIC ACTIVITYECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC MANAGEMENTECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIESEQUIPMENTEQUIPMENT LOANSEQUITABLE ACCESSFAMILIESFAMILY MEMBERFAMILY MEMBERSFINANCIAL EDUCATIONFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL KNOWLEDGEFINANCIAL LITERACYFINANCIAL LITERACY PROGRAMFINANCIAL LITERACY PROGRAMSFINANCIAL LITERACY TRAININGSFINANCIAL PRODUCTFINANCIAL RESOURCESFINANCIAL RISKFINANCIAL SERVICESFINANCIAL SKILLSFINANCIAL SUPPORTFINANCIAL SYSTEMFORMAL LOANSFUTURE GOALSGENDER EQUALITYGENDER INEQUALITYGENDER ISSUESGENDER STEREOTYPESGOVERNMENT PROGRAMSGROUP LOANSGUARANTEE FUNDHEALTH CAREHEALTH CARE SYSTEMHEALTH CENTERSHEALTH OUTCOMESHEALTH PROMOTIONHEALTH SYSTEMHOUSEHOLD SPENDINGHUMAN CAPITALHUSBANDSILLITERATE WOMENILLNESSINCOMEINCOME INCREASESINCOME-GENERATING ACTIVITIESINCOMESINDEBTEDNESSINDIGENOUS POPULATIONSINDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTSINDIVIDUAL NEEDSINDIVIDUAL SAVINGSINEQUITABLE GENDER NORMSINFORMATION CAMPAIGNSINSURANCEINSURANCE PRODUCTSINTANGIBLEINTEREST RATEINTEREST RATESINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERVENTIONINVESTMENT STRATEGYKNOWLEDGE GAPSLABOR MARKETLACK OF INFORMATIONLEARNINGLEGAL STATUSLENDERSLIFETIMELIQUIDITYLIQUIDITY MANAGEMENTLIVELIHOODSLOANLOCAL ECONOMYLOCAL GOVERNMENTSMALE HEALTHMANAGERIAL TOOLMEDICAL CAREMEDICAL SERVICESMICRO-INSURANCEMICROCREDITMICROENTERPRISESMICROFINANCEMONETARY INCENTIVESNATIONAL STRATEGYNGOPATIENTSPERSONAL INVESTMENTPOLICY ANALYSTPOLICY FORMULATIONPOLICY INITIATIVESPOLICY MAKERSPOVERTY REDUCTIONPRACTITIONERSPRIMARY EDUCATIONPRODUCTIVE INVESTMENTSPROGRAM IMPACTSPROGRAM IMPLEMENTATIONPROGRESSPROSPERITYPSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORTPSYCHOLOGISTSPSYCHOLOGYPUBLIC GOODSPUBLIC POLICYPUBLIC REGISTRYPURCHASESQUALITATIVE APPROACHQUALITATIVE RESEARCHQUALITY IMPROVEMENTQUANTITATIVE METHODSQUANTITATIVE RESEARCHQUESTIONNAIRERENTSRESOURCE MANAGEMENTRESPECTRESPONSIBILITIESRETURNRETURNSRISK MANAGEMENTRISK OF DEATHRURAL AREASRURAL RESIDENTSRURAL WOMENSALARIESSALESAVINGSSAVINGS ACCOUNTSAVINGS ACCOUNTSSAVINGS PLANSSAVINGS PROGRAMSAVINGS SCHEMESSCREENINGSELF-ESTEEMSELF-RELIANCESOCIAL CAPITALSOCIAL INCLUSIONSOCIAL POLICIESSOCIAL PROGRAMSSOCIAL SUPPORTSOCIAL WELFARESOCIALIZATIONSOURCES OF INCOMESPOUSESSUBSISTENCE FARMINGSUICIDETARGETINGTAXTAXISTECHNICAL ASSISTANCETEENAGE PREGNANCYTERMINATIONTRAINING PROGRAMSTRAINING WORKSHOPSTRANSACTIONTRANSACTION COSTSTUBERCULOSISVALUABLEVIOLENCE AGAINST WOMENVOCATIONAL TRAININGVULNERABLE GROUPSWAGESWALKINGWOMANWORKERSWORTHWorld Bank10.1596/978-612-46470-0-0