Should Cash Transfers Be Confined to the Poor? Implications for Poverty and Inequality in Latin America

Acosta, Pablo ; Leite, Phillipe ; Rigolini, Jamele

关键词: ABSOLUTE POVERTY;    ABSOLUTE POVERTY LINE;    ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS;    CARIBBEAN REGION;    CASH TRANSFER PROGRAM;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-5875
RP-ID  :  WPS5875

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper compares for 13 LatinAmerican countries the poverty and inequality impacts ofcash transfer programs that are given to all children andthe elderly (that is, "categorical" transfers), toprograms of equal budget that are confined to the poorwithin each population group (that is, "povertytargeted" transfers). The analysis finds that both theincidence of poverty and the depth of the poverty gap areimportant factors affecting the relative effectiveness ofcategorical versus poverty targeted transfers. Thecomparison of transfers to children and the elderly alsosupports the view that choosing carefully categories ofbeneficiaries is almost as important as targeting the poorfor achieving a high poverty and inequality impact. Overall,the findings suggest that although in the Latin Americancontext poverty targeting tends to deliver higher povertyimpacts, there are circumstances under which categoricaltargeting confined to geographical regions (sometimes called"geographic targeting") may be a valid option toconsider. This is particularly the case in low-incomecountries with widespread pockets of poverty.