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Social transfers, labor supply and poverty reduction : the case of Albania

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  • Dabalen,Andrew L.
  • Kilic,Talip
  • Wane,Waly
  • Dabalen,Andrew L.
  • Kilic,Talip
  • Wane,Waly

Abstract

In 1993, in response to persistent unemployment, and rising poverty and social unrest, the government of Albania introduced an anti-poverty program, namely Ndihma Ekonomike; in 1995 it was extended to all poor households. This paper estimates the separate effects of participation in this income support program and the old-age pension program on objective and subjective measures of household poverty. The analysis uses the nationally representative Albanian Living Standards Measurement Surveys carried out in 2002 and 2005. Using propensity score matching methods, the paper finds that Ndihma Ekonomike households, particularly urban residents, have lower per capita consumption and are more likely to be discontented with their lives, financial situation, and consumption levels than their matched comparators. In contrast, households receiving pensions are not significantly different from their matched comparators in reference to the same set of outcomes. The paper finds that the negative impact of Ndihma Ekonomike participation on welfare is driven by a negative labor supply response among work-eligible individuals. This negative labor response is larger among women and urban residents. In contrast to Ndihma Ekonomike, the receipt of old-age pension income transfers does not significantly impact the labor supply of prime-age individuals living in pension households

Suggested Citation

  • Dabalen,Andrew L. & Kilic,Talip & Wane,Waly & Dabalen,Andrew L. & Kilic,Talip & Wane,Waly, 2008. "Social transfers, labor supply and poverty reduction : the case of Albania," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4783, The World Bank.
  • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4783
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Lucia Mangiavacchi & Paolo Verme, 2013. "Minimum income in a transition economy," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 21(4), pages 683-712, October.
    2. Santiago Garganta & Leonardo Gasparini & Mariana Marchionni, 2017. "Cash transfers and female labor force participation: the case of AUH in Argentina," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-22, December.
    3. Lucia Mangiavacchi & Paolo Verme, 2009. "Evaluating Pro-poor Transfers When Targeting is Weak: The Albanian Ndihma Ekonomike Program Revisited," Working Papers - Economics wp2009_08.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    4. Santiago Garganta & Joaquín Zentner, 2020. "Efecto de la Doble Escolaridad sobre la Participación Laboral Femenina en República Dominicana," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4348, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    5. Leibbrandt, Murray & Lilenstein, Kezia & Shenker, Callie & Woolard, Ingrid, 2013. "The influence of social transfers on labour supply: A South African and international review," SALDRU Working Papers 112, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    6. Imane Helmy & Christian Richter & Khalid Siddig & Hebatallah Ghoneim, 2018. "A Comparison of the Economics Impacts of Conditional and Unconditional Cash Transfers in Egypt," Working Papers 50, The German University in Cairo, Faculty of Management Technology.
    7. Balasubramanian, Pooja & Ibanez, Marcela & Khan, Sarah & Sahoo, Soham, 2024. "Does women's economic empowerment promote human development in low- and middle-income countries? A meta-analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    8. Daniel Morales Martínez & Alexandre Gori Maia, 2018. "The Impacts of Cash Transfers on Subjective Wellbeing and Poverty: The Case of Colombia," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 616-633, December.
    9. Unnikrishnan, Vidhya & Imai, Katsushi S., 2020. "Does the old-age pension scheme improve household welfare? Evidence from India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    10. Helmy, Imane & Ghoneim, Hebatallah & Siddig, Khalid, 2019. "Implementing Cash Transfer Programmes in Egypt Differently: An Economic Impact Analysis," Conference papers 333055, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    11. Salti, Nisreen & Chaaban, Jad & Moussa, Wael & Irani, Alexandra & Al Mokdad, Rima & Jamaluddine, Zeina & Ghattas, Hala, 2022. "The impact of cash transfers on Syrian refugees in Lebanon: Evidence from a multidimensional regression discontinuity design," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    12. Independent Evaluation Group, 2014. "Social Safety Nets and Gender : Learning from Impact Evaluations and World Bank Projects," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 21365.
    13. Tomini, Sonila & Groot, Wim, 2012. "Paying informally for public health care in Albania: scarce resources or governance failure?," MERIT Working Papers 2012-070, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).

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