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Is Workfare Cost-effective against Poverty in a Poor Labor-Surplus Economy?

Author

Listed:
  • Rinku Murgai
  • Martin Ravallion
  • Dominique van de Walle

Abstract

Workfare has often seemed an attractive option for making self-targeted transfers to poor people. But is this incentive argument strong enough in practice to prefer unproductive workfare to even untargeted cash transfers? A nonparametric survey-based method is used to assess the cost-effectiveness of a large workfare scheme in a poor state of India with high unemployment. Forgone earnings are evident but fall short of market wages. For the same budget, unproductive workfare has less impact on poverty than either a basic-income scheme or transfers tied to the government's assignment of ration cards. The productivity of workfare is thus crucial to its justification as an antipoverty policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Rinku Murgai & Martin Ravallion & Dominique van de Walle, 2016. "Is Workfare Cost-effective against Poverty in a Poor Labor-Surplus Economy?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 30(3), pages 413-445.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:wbecrv:v:30:y:2016:i:3:p:413-445.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/wber/lhv038
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    Cited by:

    1. Gehrke, Esther & Hartwig, Renate, 2018. "Productive effects of public works programs: What do we know? What should we know?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 111-124.
    2. Ravi Kanbur, 2019. "Inequality in a global perspective," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 35(3), pages 431-444.
    3. McKenzie, David, 2016. "Can Business Owners Form Accurate Counterfactuals? Eliciting Treatment and Control Beliefs about Their Outcomes in the Alternat," CEPR Discussion Papers 11280, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Abhijit Banerjee, 2016. "Policies for a better-fed world," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 152(1), pages 3-17, February.
    5. Brown, Caitlin & Ravallion, Martin & van de Walle, Dominique, 2018. "A poor means test? Econometric targeting in Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 109-124.
    6. Alik-Lagrange, Arthur & Ravallion, Martin, 2018. "Workfare versus transfers in rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 244-258.
    7. Howie, Peter & Davletova, Indira & Makhazhan, Indira, 2023. "Evaluating the design and implementation of Kazakhstan’s workfare program," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    8. World Bank, 2014. "More Jobs, Better Jobs : A Priority for Egypt," World Bank Publications - Reports 20584, The World Bank Group.
    9. Do, Quy-Toan & Levchenko, Andrei A., 2017. "Trade policy and redistribution when preferences are non-homothetic," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 92-95.
    10. Martin Ravallion, 2021. "On the Gains from Tradeable Benefits-in-Kind," Working Papers gueconwpa~21-21-13, Georgetown University, Department of Economics.
    11. Martin Ravallion, 2019. "Is a Decentralized Right-to-Work Policy Feasible?," NBER Working Papers 25687, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Borga, Liyousew G. & D’Ambrosio, Conchita, 2021. "Social protection and multidimensional poverty: Lessons from Ethiopia, India and Peru," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    13. Michael Lokshin & Martin Ravallion, 2022. "A market for work permits," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 37(111), pages 471-499.
    14. Alik-Lagrange, Arthur & Buehren, Niklas & Goldstein, Markus & Hoogeveen, Johannes, 2023. "Welfare impacts of public works in fragile and conflict affected economies: The Londö public works in the Central African Republic," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    15. Ravallion, Martin, 2019. "Guaranteed employment or guaranteed income?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 209-221.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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