Focused Targeting against Poverty Evidence from Tunisia

Christophe Muller and Sami Bibi ()

No DT/2007/07, Working Papers from DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation)

Abstract: (english) This paper introduces a new methodology to target direct transfers against poverty. Our method is based on estimation methods that focus on the poor. Using data from Tunisia, we estimate ‘focused’ transfer schemes that highly improve anti-poverty targeting performances. Post-transfer poverty can be substantially reduced with the new estimation method. In terms of P2, the most popular axiomatically valid poverty indicator, moving from 1.30, the level reached under subsidies, to 0.36, the level reached with the best OLS method, costs about 2.9 percent of GDP. An additional reduction down to 0.25, that is another 30 percent reduction in poverty, requires only a few hours of statistician work. Finally, the obtained levels of under-coverage of the poor is so low that ‘proxy-means’ focused transfer schemes becomes a realistic alternative to price subsidies, likely to avoid social unrest.

Keywords: Poverty; Targeting; Transfers. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 D63 H53 I32 I38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 47 pages
Date: 2007-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr and nep-dev
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Focused Targeting against Poverty Evidence from Tunisia (2006)
Working Paper: FOCUSED TARGETING AGAINST POVERTY EVIDENCE FROM TUNISIA (2006)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dia:wpaper:dt200707

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