Politics, Public Works and Poverty
Public works programs can be effective safety nets if they help allocate resources toward poor households. By setting wages lower than market rates public works programs identify poor households reasonably well. When these programs are oversubscribed and lack beneficiary selection rules however, discretion by local politicians can influence their distribution and their effectiveness as safety nets. This paper tests this hypothesis using household survey data on a seasonal public works program in Bangladesh. The results show access to local politicians is a significant determinant of participation, and can increase the relative probability of participation by 110 percent. Participation has a positive impact on food and nonfood consumption of poorer participants. The same is not true for less poor participants. The results suggest rather than relying on local politicians, public works aiming to maximize their impact on poverty should rely on an objective and transparent targeting system that ensures participation of larger numbers of poorer households.
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Working Paper biblioteca |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017-08
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| Subjects: | EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM, POVERTY REDUCTION, PUBLIC WORKS, JOB CREATION, POLITICS, POLITICAL ACCESS, SAFETY NET, SEASONAL WORK, |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/150921504018082396/Politics-public-works-and-poverty-evidence-from-the-Bangladesh-employment-generation-programme-for-the-poorest https://hdl.handle.net/10986/28355 |
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| Summary: | Public works programs can be effective
safety nets if they help allocate resources toward poor
households. By setting wages lower than market rates public
works programs identify poor households reasonably well.
When these programs are oversubscribed and lack beneficiary
selection rules however, discretion by local politicians can
influence their distribution and their effectiveness as
safety nets. This paper tests this hypothesis using
household survey data on a seasonal public works program in
Bangladesh. The results show access to local politicians is
a significant determinant of participation, and can increase
the relative probability of participation by 110 percent.
Participation has a positive impact on food and nonfood
consumption of poorer participants. The same is not true for
less poor participants. The results suggest rather than
relying on local politicians, public works aiming to
maximize their impact on poverty should rely on an objective
and transparent targeting system that ensures participation
of larger numbers of poorer households. |
|---|