Geographic poverty targeting in social protection programs: Evidence from a nationwide policy experiment

Stephen O’Connell, Onur Altındağ and and Rim Achour

No 418, HiCN Working Papers from Households in Conflict Network

Abstract: We examine how allocating a fixed social assistance budget across localities using different prioritization rules affects both beneficiary selection and program effectiveness. By simulating each rule, we estimate program effects among marginal beneficiaries—those whose assistance varies across targeting strategies. The program reduces economic deprivation, with effect sizes ranging from 0.02 to 0.21 standard deviations. There are marked differences in the demographic backgrounds and economic constraints among marginal beneficiary populations, but program effects do not change substantially across targeting arms. We document sizable geographic variation in program effects, but limited ability to predict effectiveness using data typically available to implementers.

Keywords: antipoverty programs; forced displacement; lebanon.; poverty measurement; poverty targeting; refugees; social protection; unconditional cash transfers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D74 I32 I38 O12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ara, nep-exp and nep-mac
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hic:wpaper:418

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