Poverty Alleviation Through Geographic Targeting: How Much Does Disaggregation Help?

42 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2016

See all articles by Chris Elbers

Chris Elbers

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, School of Business and Economics; Tinbergen Institute

Tomoki Fujii

Singapore Management University - School of Economics

Peter F. Lanjouw

World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG)

Berk Ozler

World Bank - Development Economics Research Group (DECRG)

Wesley Yin

University of Chicago - Harris School of Public Policy; University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - School of Public Policy & Social Research

Date Written: October 2004

Abstract

Using recently completed "poverty maps" for Cambodia, Ecuador, and Madagascar, the authors simulate the impact on poverty of transferring an exogenously given budget to geographically defined subgroups of the population according to their relative poverty status. They find large gains from targeting smaller administrative units, such as districts or villages. But these gains are still far from the poverty reduction that would be possible had the planners had access to information on household level income or consumption. The results suggest that a useful way forward might be to combine fine geographic targeting using a poverty map with within-community targeting mechanisms.

This paper - a product of the Poverty Team, Development Research Group - is part of a larger effort in the group to develop tools for the analysis of poverty and income distribution.

Keywords: Targeting, Poverty, Poverty Maps

JEL Classification: C15, I32, H53

Suggested Citation

Elbers, Chris and Fujii, Tomoki and Lanjouw, Peter F. and Ozler, Berk and Yin, Wesley, Poverty Alleviation Through Geographic Targeting: How Much Does Disaggregation Help? (October 2004). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=625297

Chris Elbers

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, School of Business and Economics ( email )

De Boelelaan 1105
Amsterdam, 1081HV
Netherlands

Tinbergen Institute ( email )

Gustav Mahlerplein 117
Amsterdam, 1082 MS
Netherlands

Tomoki Fujii

Singapore Management University - School of Economics ( email )

90 Stamford Road
178903
Singapore
+6568280279 (Phone)
+6568280833 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.mysmu.edu/faculty/tfujii/

Peter F. Lanjouw

World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG) ( email )

1818 H. Street, N.W.
MSN3-311
Washington, DC 20433
United States
202-473-4529 (Phone)
202-522-1153 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://econ.worldbank.org/staff/planjouw

Berk Ozler (Contact Author)

World Bank - Development Economics Research Group (DECRG) ( email )

1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20433
United States

HOME PAGE: http://econ.worldbank.org/staff/bozler

Wesley Yin

University of Chicago - Harris School of Public Policy ( email )

1155 East 60th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
United States
773-702-8194 (Phone)
773-702-2286 (Fax)

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - School of Public Policy & Social Research ( email )

Box 951656
Los Angeles, CA 90095
United States