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Geographic inequity in a decentralized anti-poverty program : a case study of China

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  • Ravallion, Martin

Abstract

The central governments of many developing countries have chosen to decentralize their anti-poverty programs, in the expectation that local agents are better informed about local needs. The paper shows that this potential advantage of decentralized eligibility criteria can come at a large cost, to the extent that the induced geographic inequities undermine performance in reaching the income- poor nationally. These issues are studied empirically for (probably) the largest transfer-based poverty program in the world, namely China's Di Bao program,which aims to assure a minimum income through means-tested transfers. Poor municipalities are found to adopt systematically lower eligibility thresholds, reducing the program's ability to reach poor areas, and generating considerable horizontal inequity.

Suggested Citation

  • Ravallion, Martin, 2007. "Geographic inequity in a decentralized anti-poverty program : a case study of China," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4303, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4303
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Kis-Katos, Krisztina & Sjahrir, Bambang Suharnoko, 2017. "The impact of fiscal and political decentralization on local public investment in Indonesia," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 344-365.
    2. Yifu, Justin & Wang, Yan, 2009. "China's Integration with the World: Development as a Process of Learning and Industrial Upgrading," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4799, The World Bank.
    3. Justin Yifu Lin & Yan Wang, 2012. "China'S Integration With The World: Development As A Process Of Learning And Industrial Upgrading," China Economic Policy Review (CEPR), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 1(01), pages 1-33.
    4. Luis Ayala & Elena Bárcena-Martín, 2018. "A social welfare approach for measuring welfare protection," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 16(1), pages 41-59, March.
    5. Robert T. Jensen & Nolan H. Miller, 2010. "Do Consumer Price Subsidies Really Improve Nutrition?," NBER Working Papers 16102, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inequality; Services&Transfers to Poor; Poverty Monitoring&Analysis; Economic Theory&Research;
    All these keywords.

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