Identifying targeting with nonparametric methods: An application to an Indian microfinance program

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Identifying targeting with nonparametric methods: An application to an Indian microfinance program

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Rohini Somanathan () (Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi)
Isha Dewan (Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi)

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Rohini Somanathan

Abstract

We discuss nonparametric methods and statistical tests that are appropriate to assess poverty targeting in public programs. These methods explicitly account for the possibility that the population distributions of participants and non-participants cross. Crossing points provide us with upper bounds on the income of those who have been excluded from the program. Applying these methods to data from a microfinance program in the state of Jharkhand in India, we find evidence that very poorest households are largely excluded from the program.

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Paper provided by Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi, India in its series Indian Statistical Institute, Planning Unit, New Delhi Discussion Papers with number 03-11.

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Length: 27 pages
Date of creation: Jul 2003
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:ind:isipdp:03-11

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
H42 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Publicly Provided Private Goods
H43 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Project Evaluation; Social Discount Rate
O22 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Project Analysis

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

NEP-ALL-2004-06-02 (All new papers)
NEP-MFD-2004-06-02 (Microfinance)
NEP-PBE-2004-06-02 (Public Economics)

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

Jonathan Morduch, 1998. "Does Microfinance Really Help the Poor? New Evidence from Flagship Programs in Bangladesh," Working Papers 198, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Research Program in Development Studies.. [Downloadable!]
Christina Paxson & Norbert R. Schady, 2002. "The Allocation and Impact of Social Funds: Spending on School Infrastructure in Peru," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(2), pages 297-319, August.
James J. Heckman & Jeffrey Smith, 2003. "The Determinants of Participation in a Social Program: Evidence from a Prototypical Job Training Program," University of Western Ontario, CIBC Human Capital and Productivity Project Working Papers 20034, University of Western Ontario, CIBC Human Capital and Productivity Project. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- James J. Heckman & Jeffrey A. Smith, 2003. "The Determinants of Participation in a Social Program: Evidence from a Prototypical Job Training Program," NBER Working Papers 9818, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
- Heckman, James J. & Smith, Jeffrey A., 2003. "The Determinants of Participation in a Social Program: Evidence from a Prototypical Job Training Program," IZA Discussion Papers 798, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
- Heckman, James J & Smith, Jeffrey A., 2003. "The determinants of participation in a social program: Evidence from a prototypical job training program," Working Paper Series 2003:10, IFAU - Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation. [Downloadable!]
- James J. Heckman & Jeffrey A. Smith, 2004. "The Determinants of Participation in a Social Program: Evidence from a Prototypical Job Training Program," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(2), pages 243-298, April. [Downloadable!]
Sharma, Manohar, 2000. "Microfinance," MP05 briefs 0, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). [Downloadable!]
Castro-Leal, Florencia & Dayton, Julia & Demery, Lionel & Mehra, Kalpana, 1999. "Public Social Spending in Africa: Do the Poor Benefit?," World Bank Research Observer, Oxford University Press, vol. 14(1), pages 49-72, February. [Downloadable!]
Chen, Guijing & Chen, Jiahua & Chen, Yuming, 2002. "Statistical inference on comparing two distribution functions with a possible crossing point," Statistics & Probability Letters, Elsevier, vol. 60(3), pages 329-341, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Ravallion, Martin, 1991. "Reaching the Rural Poor through Public Employment: Arguments, Evidence, and Lessons from South Asia," World Bank Research Observer, Oxford University Press, vol. 6(2), pages 153-75, July.

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