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Finding the poor vs. measuring their poverty : exploring the drivers of targeting effectiveness in Indonesia

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  • Bah,Adama Bari
  • Bazzi,Samuel Ali
  • Sumarto,Sudarno
  • Tobias,Julia

Abstract

Centralized targeting registries are increasingly used to allocate social assistance benefits in developing countries. There are two key design issues that matter for targeting accuracy: (i) which households to survey for inclusion in the registry and (ii) how to rank surveyed households. The authors attempt to identify their relative importance by evaluating Indonesia's Unified Database for Social Protection Programs (UDB), among the largest targeting registries in the world, used to provide social assistance to over 25 million households. Linking administrative data with an independent household survey, they find that the UDB system is more progressive than previous, program-specific targeting approaches. However, simulating an alternative targeting system based on enumerating all households, they find a one-third reduction in undercoverage of the poor compared to focusing on households registered in the UDB. Overall, there are large gains in targeting performance from improving the initial registration stage relative to the ranking stage.

Suggested Citation

  • Bah,Adama Bari & Bazzi,Samuel Ali & Sumarto,Sudarno & Tobias,Julia, 2018. "Finding the poor vs. measuring their poverty : exploring the drivers of targeting effectiveness in Indonesia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8342, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:8342
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Missbach, Leonard & Steckel, Jan Christoph & Vogt-Schilb, Adrien, 2024. "Cash transfers in the context of carbon pricing reforms in Latin America and the Caribbean," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    2. Adama Bah & Suahasil Nazara & Elan Satriawan, 2015. "Registro Único de Indonesia para los programas de protección social," Policy Research Brief 49, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth.
    3. Hanna, Rema & Olken, Benjamin A., 2018. "Universal Basic Incomes vs. Targeted Transfers: Anti-Poverty Programs in Developing Countries," Working Paper Series rwp18-024, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    4. Hillebrecht, Michael & Klonner, Stefan & Pacere, Noraogo A., 2020. "Dynamic Properties of Poverty Targeting," Working Papers 0696, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    5. Matthew C. LaFevor & Alexandra G. Ponette-González & Rebecca Larson & Leah M. Mungai, 2021. "Spatial Targeting of Agricultural Support Measures: Indicator-Based Assessment of Coverages and Leakages," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-17, July.
    6. Martin Wiegand, 2020. "Welfare Measurement and Poverty Targeting Based on Participatory Wealth Rankings," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 20-086/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    7. Adama Bah & Suahasil Nazara & Elan Satriawan, 2015. "Indonesia’s Single Registry for Social Protection Programmes," Policy Research Brief (Arab) 49, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth.
    8. Christophe Muller, 2018. "Optimal Cash Transfers with Distribution Regressions: An Application to Egypt at the Dawn of the XXIst Century," Working Papers halshs-01684570, HAL.
    9. Tohari, Achmad & Parsons, Christopher & Rammohan, Anu, 2017. "Targeting Poverty under Complementarities: Evidence from Indonesia's Unified Targeting System," IZA Discussion Papers 10968, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Fanny Salignac & Julien Hanoteau & Ioana Ramia, 2022. "Financial Resilience: A Way Forward Towards Economic Development in Developing Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 1-33, February.
    11. Adama Bah & Suahasil Nazara & Elan Satriawan, 2015. "Le registre unique indonésien à l’usage des programmes de protection sociale," Policy Research Brief (French) 49, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth.
    12. Christophe Muller, 2016. "Optimal transfers with distribution regressions: An application to Egypt at the dawn of the XXIst century," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-179, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Hillebrecht, Michael & Klonner, Stefan & Pacere, Noraogo A., 2023. "The dynamics of poverty targeting," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    14. Tohari, Achmad & Parsons, Christopher & Rammohan, Anu, 2019. "Targeting poverty under complementarities: Evidence from Indonesia's unified targeting system," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 127-144.
    15. Della Guardia, Anne & Lake, Milli & Schnitzer, Pascale, 2022. "Selective inclusion in cash transfer programs: Unintended consequences for social cohesion," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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