Decentralized versus Statistical Targeting of Anti-Poverty Programs: Evidence from Burkina Faso

Michael Schleicher, Aurélia Souares, Athanase Narangoro Pacere, Rainer Sauerborn and Stefan Klonner

No 623, Working Papers from University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics

Abstract: Targeting of national anti-poverty programs in low-income countries commonly relies on statistical procedures involving household-level survey data, while small-scale poverty-alleviation programs often employ so-called community-based targeting, where village communities themselves identify program beneficiaries. Combining data from community-based targeting exercises in north-western Burkina Faso with household-level survey data, we compare the targeting accuracy of community-based targeting with several statistical procedures when the program's purpose is to target consumption-poor households. We find that the community-based assessment targets a similar share of consumption-poor households as the best-performing statistical procedures which are not calibrated with household-level consumption data. Community-based targeting performs relatively better in urban than in rural areas and is not at a disadvantage in larger or more heterogeneous communities. In a cost-benefit analysis we find that in our sub-Saharan African context community-based targeting is far more cost-effective than any statistical procedure for common amounts of welfare program benefits.

Keywords: Targeting; Community-based Targeting; Welfare Programs; Poverty; Community Wealth Rankings; Proxy-means Testing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-11-22
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-agr and nep-dev
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