Targeting versus Universality

In the last few years, proposals to introduce a universal basic income or universal basic income (UBI) have proliferated. Proponents point out that narrowly targeted programs exclude many of the poor. Critics point out that universality spreads limited resources thinly over the population limiting the impact on poverty for a given level of spending. While high income countries can claw back the transfer to the higher income group through a progressive income tax, this is not possible in developing countries where most people operate in the informal sector. This note looks at an alternative to either narrow targeting or UBI. It uses household survey data from 52 low and middle-income countries to compare the poverty impact of a UBI to a transfer that is gradually reduced as estimated consumption increases. The taper can be set at different rates and can lead to zero transfers to households above a chosen threshold. The tapered UBI (TUBI) can be based on proxy indicators for unobserved income from special surveys and administrative databases. Both are becoming more common as government databases are digitized.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Majoka, Zaineb, Palacios, Robert
Format: Brief biblioteca
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2019-10
Subjects:SOCIAL PROTECTION, TARGETING, POVERTY REDUCTION, SOCIAL SAFETY NETS, CASH TRANSFERS, SOCIAL ASSISTANCE, POVERTY LINE,
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/748311574398803352/Targeting-versus-Universality-Is-There-a-Middle-Ground
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/32789
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spelling dig-okr-10986327892024-08-07T19:02:00Z Targeting versus Universality Is There a Middle Ground? Majoka, Zaineb Palacios, Robert SOCIAL PROTECTION TARGETING POVERTY REDUCTION SOCIAL SAFETY NETS CASH TRANSFERS SOCIAL ASSISTANCE POVERTY LINE In the last few years, proposals to introduce a universal basic income or universal basic income (UBI) have proliferated. Proponents point out that narrowly targeted programs exclude many of the poor. Critics point out that universality spreads limited resources thinly over the population limiting the impact on poverty for a given level of spending. While high income countries can claw back the transfer to the higher income group through a progressive income tax, this is not possible in developing countries where most people operate in the informal sector. This note looks at an alternative to either narrow targeting or UBI. It uses household survey data from 52 low and middle-income countries to compare the poverty impact of a UBI to a transfer that is gradually reduced as estimated consumption increases. The taper can be set at different rates and can lead to zero transfers to households above a chosen threshold. The tapered UBI (TUBI) can be based on proxy indicators for unobserved income from special surveys and administrative databases. Both are becoming more common as government databases are digitized. 2019-12-05T17:23:13Z 2019-12-05T17:23:13Z 2019-10 Brief Fiche Resumen http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/748311574398803352/Targeting-versus-Universality-Is-There-a-Middle-Ground https://hdl.handle.net/10986/32789 English Social Protection and Jobs Policy and Technical Note,no. 22; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank application/pdf text/plain World Bank, Washington, DC
institution Banco Mundial
collection DSpace
country Estados Unidos
countrycode US
component Bibliográfico
access En linea
databasecode dig-okr
tag biblioteca
region America del Norte
libraryname Biblioteca del Banco Mundial
language English
topic SOCIAL PROTECTION
TARGETING
POVERTY REDUCTION
SOCIAL SAFETY NETS
CASH TRANSFERS
SOCIAL ASSISTANCE
POVERTY LINE
SOCIAL PROTECTION
TARGETING
POVERTY REDUCTION
SOCIAL SAFETY NETS
CASH TRANSFERS
SOCIAL ASSISTANCE
POVERTY LINE
spellingShingle SOCIAL PROTECTION
TARGETING
POVERTY REDUCTION
SOCIAL SAFETY NETS
CASH TRANSFERS
SOCIAL ASSISTANCE
POVERTY LINE
SOCIAL PROTECTION
TARGETING
POVERTY REDUCTION
SOCIAL SAFETY NETS
CASH TRANSFERS
SOCIAL ASSISTANCE
POVERTY LINE
Majoka, Zaineb
Palacios, Robert
Targeting versus Universality
description In the last few years, proposals to introduce a universal basic income or universal basic income (UBI) have proliferated. Proponents point out that narrowly targeted programs exclude many of the poor. Critics point out that universality spreads limited resources thinly over the population limiting the impact on poverty for a given level of spending. While high income countries can claw back the transfer to the higher income group through a progressive income tax, this is not possible in developing countries where most people operate in the informal sector. This note looks at an alternative to either narrow targeting or UBI. It uses household survey data from 52 low and middle-income countries to compare the poverty impact of a UBI to a transfer that is gradually reduced as estimated consumption increases. The taper can be set at different rates and can lead to zero transfers to households above a chosen threshold. The tapered UBI (TUBI) can be based on proxy indicators for unobserved income from special surveys and administrative databases. Both are becoming more common as government databases are digitized.
format Brief
topic_facet SOCIAL PROTECTION
TARGETING
POVERTY REDUCTION
SOCIAL SAFETY NETS
CASH TRANSFERS
SOCIAL ASSISTANCE
POVERTY LINE
author Majoka, Zaineb
Palacios, Robert
author_facet Majoka, Zaineb
Palacios, Robert
author_sort Majoka, Zaineb
title Targeting versus Universality
title_short Targeting versus Universality
title_full Targeting versus Universality
title_fullStr Targeting versus Universality
title_full_unstemmed Targeting versus Universality
title_sort targeting versus universality
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2019-10
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/748311574398803352/Targeting-versus-Universality-Is-There-a-Middle-Ground
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/32789
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