Using Referenda to Improve Targeting and Decrease Costs of Conditional Cash Transfers

Alix-Garcia, Jennifer M. ; Sims, Katharine R.E. ; Phaneuf, Daniel J.

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: TARGETING;    CONDITIONAL CASH TRANSFERS;    ECOSYSTEM SERVICES;    PREFERENCES;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-8708
RP-ID  :  WPS8708

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Cost-effective allocation of conditionalcash transfers (CCT) requires identifying recipients withlow opportunity costs who might change behavior. This paperdevelops a low-cost approach for improving programimplementation by using a stated preference,referendum-style survey question to calculate willingness toaccept (WTA) for CCT contracts. This is illustrated in thecontext of Mexico's Payments for Ecosystem ServicesProgram, with the paper finding that the estimated socialcost based on WTA is substantially lower than actualpayments. Simulation of three geographic targetingapproaches shows that joint selection using deforestationrisk and WTA could increase program impact under the samebudget. The paper also simulates modified payment schedulesbased on predicted WTA and demonstrates that these couldreduce program cost.