Targeting of Transfers in Developing Countries: Review of Lessons and Experience

Abstract

No AccessRegional and Sectoral Studies1 Feb 2013Targeting of Transfers in Developing CountriesReview of Lessons and ExperienceAuthors/Editors: David Coady, Margaret Grosh, John HoddinottDavid Coady, Margaret Grosh, John Hoddinotthttps://doi.org/10.1596/0-8213-5769-7SectionsAboutPDF (1.2 MB) ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareFacebookTwitterLinked In Abstract:Drawing on a database of more than one hundred anti-poverty interventions in 47 countries, Targeting of Transfers in Developing Countries provides a general review of experiences with methods used to target interventions in transition and developing countries. Written for policymakers and program managers in developing countries, in donor agencies, and in NGOs who have responsibility for designing interventions that reach the poor, it conveys what targeting options are available, what results can be expected as well as information that will assist in choosing among them and in their implementation. Key messages are: While targeting "works" - the median program transfers 25 percent more to the poor than would a universal allocation - targeting performance around the world is highly variable. Means testing, geographic targeting, and self-selection based on a work requirement are the most robustly progressive methods. Proxy means testing, community-based selection of individuals and demographic targeting to children show good results on average, but with considerable variation. Demographic targeting to the elderly, community bidding, and self-selection based on consumption show limited potential for good targeting. There is no single preferred method for all types of programs or all country contexts. Successful targeting depends critically on how a method is implemented. Previous book FiguresReferencesRecommendedDetailsCited ByTargeting Social Transfers in Ethiopia's Agro‐pastoralist and Pastoralist SocietiesDevelopment and Change, Vol.53, No.212 November 2021Data, discretion and institutional capacity: Evidence from cash transfers in PakistanJournal of Public Economics, Vol.206Financial Resilience: A Way Forward Towards Economic Development in Developing CountriesSocial Indicators Research, Vol.160, No.15 September 2021Who Are Identified as Poor in Rural China's Targeted Poverty Alleviation Strategy? Applying the Multidimensional Capability ApproachJournal of Chinese Political Science, Vol.1027 January 2022Efficiency, Legitimacy, and Impacts of Targeting Methods: Evidence from an Experiment in NigerWorld Bank Economic Review, Vol.35, No.417 November 2021An Empirical Validation Method for Narrowing the Range of Poverty ThresholdsSocial Indicators Research, Vol.9516 October 2021Predicting poverty and malnutrition for targeting, mapping, monitoring, and early warningApplied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Vol.14815 July 2021Social Protection and State–Society Relations in Environments of Low and Uneven State CapacityAnnual Review of Political Science, Vol.24, No.1Assessing the performance of beneficiary targeting in Brazil's More Doctors ProgrammeHealth Policy and Planning, Vol.36, No.215 January 2021The Politics of Social Protection in Kenya: State Capacity, Political Competition and Social Pension Registration in Marsabit CountySSRN Electronic Journal, Vol.8Beyond Manipulation: Administrative Sorting in Regression Discontinuity DesignsJournal of Causal Inference, Vol.8, No.123 December 2020Motives behind community participation: Evidence from natural and artefactual field experiments in Sri LankaPacific Economic Review, Vol.25, No.521 December 2020Conditional Cash Transfers and Homogeneous Spaces: The Politics of Multiplicative EffectsLatin American Policy, Vol.11, No.25 November 2020Coverage of non-receipt of cash transfer (Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty) and associated factors among older persons in the Mampong Municipality, Ghana – a quantitative analysisBMC Geriatrics, Vol.20, No.115 October 2020Can Rationing Increase Welfare? Theory and an Application to India's Ration Shop SystemAmerican Economic Journal: Economic Policy, Vol.12, No.4Intake, Registration, and Assessment of Needs and Conditions3 December 2020Payments of Cash Benefits3 December 2020Eligibility and Enrollment3 December 2020Broad-based subsidies or targeted transfers? Distributional equity vs macroeconomic costsJournal of Economic Policy Reform13 July 2020Political favouritism and social conflict: a case study of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in PakistanArea Development and Policy, Vol.5, No.314 June 2019Targeting in Practice: A Review of Existing Mechanisms for Beneficiary Selection in the Democratic Republic of CongoJournal of International Development, Vol.32, No.524 March 2020Use of conditional cash transfers for addressing gender-based inequalities in health and education among children: studying the impact of the Shubh Laxmi scheme in Rajasthan, IndiaBehavioural Public Policy, Vol.629 June 2020Community-Based versus Statistical Targe