Program Targeting with Machine Learning and Mobile Phone Data: Evidence from an Anti-Poverty Intervention in Afghanistan

Emily L. Aiken, Guadalupe Bedoya Arguelles, Joshua Evan Blumenstock and Aidan Coville

No 10252, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Can mobile phone data improve program targeting By combining rich survey data from the baseline of a “big push” anti-poverty program in Afghanistan implemented in 2016 with detailed mobile phone logs from program beneficiaries, this paper studies the extent to which machine learning methods can accurately differentiate ultra-poor households eligible for program benefits from ineligible households. The paper shows that machine learning methods leveraging mobile phone data can identify ultra-poor households nearly as accurately as survey-based measures of consumption and wealth; and that combining survey-based measures with mobile phone data produces classifications more accurate than those based on a single data source.

Date: 2022-12-06
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/09932941 ... 5d8019aa2250f2d4.pdf (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 404 Not Found (http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099329412062214006/pdf/IDU0b56d850209a2e040610a5d8019aa2250f2d4.pdf [302 Found]--> http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099329412062214006/pdf/IDU0b56d850209a2e040610a5d8019aa2250f2d4.pdf [301 Moved Permanently]--> https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099329412062214006/pdf/IDU0b56d850209a2e040610a5d8019aa2250f2d4.pdf)

Related works:
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:wbk:wbrwps:10252

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20433. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Roula I. Yazigi ().