Can Mistargeting Destroy Social Capital and Stimulate Crime? Evidence from a Cash Transfer Program in Indonesia

Lisa Cameron and Manisha Shah ()

Economic Development and Cultural Change, 2014, vol. 62, issue 2, 381 - 415

Abstract: Cash transfer programs can provide important financial support for poor households in developing countries and are becoming increasingly common. However the potential for mistargeting of program funds is high. This article focuses on the social consequences arising from misallocation of resources in close-knit communities. We find that the mistargeting of a cash transfer program in Indonesia had significant negative social consequences. The prevalence of crime within communities increased and participation in community groups declined. Hence poorly administered transfer programs have a potentially large negative downside that extends beyond the pure financial costs that have been the focus of the literature to date.

Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (23)

Downloads: (external link)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/674102 (application/pdf)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/674102 (text/html)
Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.

Related works:
Working Paper: Can Mistargeting Destroy Social Capital and Stimulate Crime? Evidence from a Cash Transfer Program in Indonesia (2012)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ucp:ecdecc:doi:10.1086/674102

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Economic Development and Cultural Change from University of Chicago Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Journals Division ().