IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/fcnddp/16394.html

How Effectively Do Public Works Program Transfer Benefits To The Poor? Evidence From South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Haddad, Lawrence James
  • Adato, Michelle

Abstract

This paper uses project and household data to examine the ability of 100 or so public works projects in Western Cape Province, South Africa, to target benefits—both direct and indirect—to those living below the poverty line. We find that public works projects generally outperform hypothetical untargeted cash transfers in this regard under a wide range of assumptions about underlying parameters.

Suggested Citation

  • Haddad, Lawrence James & Adato, Michelle, 2001. "How Effectively Do Public Works Program Transfer Benefits To The Poor? Evidence From South Africa," FCND Discussion Papers 16394, CGIAR, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:fcnddp:16394
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.16394
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/16394/files/fc010108.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.16394?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peck, Jamie & Theodore, Nikolas, 2000. "Commentary: 'Work First': Workfare and the Regulation of Contingent Labour Markets," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 24(1), pages 119-138, January.
    2. Martin Ravallion & Gaurav Datt, 1995. "Is Targeting Through a Work Requirement Efficient? Some Evidence for Rural India," Monash Economics Working Papers archive-41, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    3. Zeller, Manfred, 1994. "Determinants of credit rationing: A study of informal lenders and formal credit groups in Madagascar," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 22(12), pages 1895-1907, December.
    4. Robert Haveman & Barbara Wolfe, 2000. "Welfare to Work in the U.S.: A Model for Other Developed Nations?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 7(1), pages 95-114, February.
    5. Mills, Bradford F. & Alwang, Jeffrey Roger & Hazarika, Gautam, 2000. "The Impact Of Welfare Reform Across Metropolitan And Non-Metropolitan Areas: A Non-Parametric Analysis," 2000 Annual meeting, July 30-August 2, Tampa, FL 21760, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    6. Stephan Klasen, 1997. "Poverty, Inequality and Deprivation in South Africa: An Analysis of the 1993 SALDRU Survey," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 51-94, July.
    7. Ravallion, Martin, 1999. "Appraising Workfare," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 14(1), pages 31-48, February.
    8. Bouis, Howarth E., 1994. "Agricultural Technology And Food Policy To Combat Iron Deficiency In Developing Countries," FCND Discussion Papers 49996, CGIAR, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    9. K. Subbarao, 1997. "Public Works as an Anti-Poverty Program: An Overview of Cross-Country Experience," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(2), pages 678-683.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lawrence HADDAD & Michelle ADATO, 2002. "Maximizing benefit transfers to the poor: Evidence from South African employment programmes," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 141(3), pages 203-223, September.
    2. Coady, David & Grosh, Margaret & Hoddinott, John F., 2002. "Targeting outcomes redux," FCND briefs 144, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    3. Adato, Michelle & Haddad, Lawrence James, 2001. "Targeting Poverty Through Community-Based Public Works Programs: A Cross-Disciplinary Assessment Of Recent Experience In South Africa," Discussion Paper Briefs 15979, CGIAR, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. Jha, Raghbendra & Gaiha, Raghav & Pandey, Manoj K., 2012. "Net transfer benefits under India's rural employment guarantee scheme," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 296-311.
    5. Tarp, Finn & Simler, Kenneth & Matusse, Cristina & Heltberg, Rasmus & Dava, Gabriel, 2002. "The Robustness of Poverty Profiles Reconsidered," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 51(1), pages 77-108, October.
    6. Ahmed, Akhter U. & Bouis, Howarth E., 2002. "Weighing what's practical: proxy means tests for targeting food subsidies in Egypt," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(5-6), pages 519-540.
    7. Popkin, Barry M. & Horton, Susan & Kim, Soowon, 2001. "The Nutritional Transition And Diet-Related Chronic Diseases In Asia: Implications For Prevention," Discussion Paper Briefs 16002, CGIAR, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    8. Christopher B. Barrett & Stein T. Holden & Daniel C. Clay, 2002. "Can Food-for-Work Programmes Reduce Vulnerability?," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2002-24, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Ruel, Marie T. & de la Briere, Benedicte & Hallman, Kelly & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Coj de Salazar, Nora, 2002. "Does subsidized childcare help poor working women in urban areas? evaluation of a government-sponsored program in Guatemala City," FCND discussion papers 131, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    10. Haddad, Lawrence J. & Alderman, Harold & Appleton, Simon & Song, Lina & Yohannes, Yisehac, 2002. "Reducing child undernutrition: how far does income growth take us?," FCND briefs 137, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    11. Jalan, Jyotsna & Ravallion, Martin, 1999. "Income gains to the poor from workfare - estimates for Argentina's TRABAJAR Program," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2149, The World Bank.
    12. Haddad, Lawrence & Maluccio, John A, 2003. "Trust, Membership in Groups, and Household Welfare: Evidence from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 51(3), pages 573-601, April.
    13. Almeida, Rita K. & Galasso, Emanuela, 2007. "Jump-Starting Self-Employment? Evidence among Welfare Participants in Argentina," IZA Discussion Papers 2902, IZA Network @ LISER.
    14. World Bank, 2001. "Risk Management in South Asia : A Poverty Focused Approach," World Bank Publications - Reports 15449, The World Bank Group.
    15. Ravallion, Martin, 2019. "Guaranteed employment or guaranteed income?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 209-221.
    16. Haddad, Lawrence J. & Ahmed, Akhter U., 2002. "Avoiding chronic and transitory poverty: evidence from Egypt, 1997-1999," FCND discussion papers 133, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    17. Pierre, Gaëlle & Scarpetta, Stefano, 2004. "Employment Regulations through the Eyes of Employers: Do They Matter and How Do Firms Respond to Them?," IZA Discussion Papers 1424, IZA Network @ LISER.
    18. Skoufias, Emmanuel & Parker, Susan W., 2002. "Labor Market Shocks And Their Impacts On Work And Schooling: Evidence From Urban Mexico," FCND Discussion Papers 16405, CGIAR, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    19. del Ninno, Carlo & Dorosh, Paul A., 2002. "In-kind transfers and household food consumption: implications for targeted food programs in Bangladesh," FCND discussion papers 134, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    20. Garrett, James L. & Downen, Jeanne, 2001. "Rapid assessments in urban areas: lessons from Bangladesh and Tanzania," FCND briefs 107, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:fcnddp:16394. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ifprius.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.