Cuesta, Jose2013-09-262013-09-262013-06https://hdl.handle.net/10986/15848Existing evidence forms a body of "conventional wisdom" on the redistributive impact of fiscal policies that has been recently questioned by more disaggregated analyses. This paper proposes an additional extension to the traditional benefit incidence analysis to explore further the extent to which the conventional wisdom holds, as well as to provide effective guidance in fiscal decision making. The benefit incidence analysis extension includes linking fiscal policies with the concept of equality of opportunities. The paper describes this approach and showcases the application of the proposed "opportunity incidence analysis" to six pilot countries: Liberia, Cote d Ivoire, Zambia, Tajikistan, Thailand, and Paraguay. Three main contributions stand out: first, opportunity incidence analysis complements traditional benefit incidence analysis by applying its mechanics to a more forward looking concept of equal opportunity. Second, opportunities can be used to target public spending with higher precision. Third, micro-simulations can be used to understand the cost-effectiveness of alternative spending interventions that seek to improve equality of opportunities. All of these results complement the diagnosis produced by traditional incidence analysis and provide useful information to guide specific policy decisions.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO HEALTH CARE SERVICESAFFORDABLE ACCESSBANK DEPOSITSBASIC HEALTH CAREBASIC SERVICESBENEFICIARIESBENEFIT INCIDENCEBENEFIT INCIDENCE ANALYSISBUDGETARY ALLOCATIONBUDGETARY CONSTRAINTSCASH TRANSFERSCENTRAL ADMINISTRATIONCITIESCOMMUNITY SCHOOLSCOMPTROLLER GENERALCOST-EFFECTIVENESSDATA QUALITYDECENTRALIZATIONDECISION MAKINGDEMAND FOR EDUCATION SERVICESDEMAND FOR HEALTH CAREDEPOSITSDIAGNOSTIC TOOLDIFFERENTIALSDISTRIBUTION OF INCOMEDISTRIBUTION OF PUBLIC SPENDINGDISTRIBUTION OF WELFAREDISTRIBUTIONAL EFFECTSEARLY CHILDHOODEARNINGSECONOMIC GROWTHEDUCATION LEVELEDUCATION LEVELSEDUCATION POLICIESEDUCATION SERVICESEDUCATION SPENDINGEDUCATION SYSTEMEDUCATIONAL BENEFITSEDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIESELIGIBLE CHILDRENENROLLMENTEQUAL ACCESSEQUAL OPPORTUNITIESEQUAL OPPORTUNITYEQUALITYEQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITIESEQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITYEQUILIBRIUMETHNIC GROUPEVALUATION TECHNIQUESEXCLUSIONEXPENDITUREEXPENDITURE CATEGORYEXPENDITURE POLICIESEXPENDITURE PROGRAMSEXPENDITURESFAMILIESFAMILY INCOMEFARMERSFINANCIAL CRISISFINANCIAL REPRESSIONFISCAL COSTFISCAL DATAFISCAL DECISIONSFISCAL IMPLICATIONSFISCAL POLICIESFISCAL POLICYFISCAL RESOURCESFOREIGN EXCHANGEGENDERGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTHEALTH CAREHEALTH CARE FACILITIESHEALTH CARE SPENDINGHEALTH CENTERSHEALTH MINISTRYHEALTH OUTCOMEHEALTH PROVIDERSHEALTH SERVICESHOSPITAL CAREHOSPITAL SERVICESHOSPITALSHOUSEHOLD INCOMEHOUSEHOLD INCOMESHOUSEHOLDSHUMAN CAPITALILLNESSINCIDENCE ANALYSESINCOME DISTRIBUTIONINCOME GROUPINCOME GROUPSINEQUALITIESINEQUALITYINTEREST RATEINTEREST RATE CONTROLSINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERVENTIONLACK OF ACCESSLIVING CONDITIONSLOCAL TAXESMEDICAL SERVICESMINIMUM WAGESMINISTRY OF EDUCATIONMINISTRY OF FINANCEMINISTRY OF HEALTHNATIONAL PLANNINGNET BENEFITNET BENEFITSNET SPENDINGNUTRITIONPEOPLESPHARMACIESPOLICY ALTERNATIVESPOLICY DECISIONPOLICY DECISIONSPOLICY INTERVENTIONSPOLICY MAKERSPOLICY PURPOSESPOVERTY REDUCTIONPRIMARY HEALTH CAREPRIVATE PROVIDERSPRIVATE SECTORPRIVATE SPENDINGPROBABILITYPROVINCEPROVINCESPROVINCIAL LEVELPROVISION OF HEALTH CAREPUBLIC EDUCATIONPUBLIC EDUCATION SPENDINGPUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEMPUBLIC EXPENDITUREPUBLIC EXPENDITURE ON HEALTHPUBLIC EXPENDITURESPUBLIC EXPENDITURES ON HEALTHPUBLIC FINANCEPUBLIC HEALTHPUBLIC HEALTH CAREPUBLIC HEALTH CARE SERVICESPUBLIC HEALTH SERVICESPUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEMPUBLIC INTERVENTIONSPUBLIC POLICIESPUBLIC POLICYPUBLIC PROVISIONPUBLIC RESOURCESPUBLIC SCHOOLPUBLIC SCHOOLSPUBLIC SERVICEPUBLIC SPENDINGPUBLIC SPENDING LEVELSPUBLIC SUBSIDIESQUALITY SERVICERATES OF RETURNREDISTRIBUTIONREDISTRIBUTIVE EFFECTSREDISTRIBUTIVE IMPACTREVENUE COLLECTIONSANITATIONSANITATION SERVICESSAVINGSSCHOOL FEESSERVICE PROVISIONSEXUAL PRACTICESSINGLE PARENTSOCIAL SECURITYSOCIAL WELFARESOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUNDSUBNATIONALTAXTAX BURDENSTAX INCIDENCETAX SYSTEMSTAXATIONTOTAL PUBLIC SPENDINGUNIVERSAL ACCESSURBAN AREASVOUCHERVULNERABLE GROUPSWELFARE LEVELWELFARE STATEStargetingmicrosimulationsWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-6489