Simulating the Impacts of Cash Transfers on Poverty and School Attendance: The Case of Cambodia

Using the Cambodia Socioeconomic Survey 2004 and employing micro-static simulation techniques, we measure the potential impacts of cash transfer programs for children to identify targeted groups that will have the most effect on poverty and school attendance. We conclude that the largest impacts occur by targeting poor children. If this proves to be too administratively costly, then targeting children in rural areas or targeting all children living in the ten poorest provinces will also yield significant poverty reduction. With regard to improving school attendance, the same targeted groups generally provide the biggest impacts as well, although the impacts on school attendance tend to be smaller than on poverty reduction.     

Politicisation of Conditional Cash Transfers: The Case of Guatemala

This article complements existing studies on the incumbency effects of conditional cash transfers (CCTs) by analysing the principal mechanisms by which Mi Familia Progresa (MIFAPRO) in Guatemala became increasingly politicised through clientelistic vote buying and threats of programme expulsion in case of non‐electoral support. It finds that MIFAPRO constitutes an emblematic case with mixed effects that are particularly relevant in the diffusion of CCTs to other developing countries.     

A Regional Multiplier Approach to Estimating the Impact of Cash Transfers on the Market: The Case of Cash Transfers in Rural Malawi

This article analyses the impact on the local economy of an emergency cash–transfer programme in rural Malawi. The results are of interest, given the growing use of cash transfers as development aid as well as the increasing popularity of such transfers as a form of social protection across sub–Saharan Africa. It uses a form of social accounting matrix to show that there are widespread benefits for the regional economy as a whole (with multiplier estimates of 2.02 to 2.45), especially during the most ‘lean’ periods of the year, and for small farmers and small businesses in particular, as this is where poorer households' purchases are focused; education and health also benefit.     

Impact of Public and Private Cash Transfers on Poverty and Inequality: Evidence from Vietnam

This article investigates the extent to which public and private transfers affected poverty and inequality in Vietnam in the mid‐2000s. It finds that the impact of public transfers on poverty was negligible, due to the low coverage of the poor and the relatively small amounts transferred. Moreover, the effect of the receipt of transfers on expenditures was small: recipients decreased the labour supply and only a limited amount of the extra income went to current consumption. Domestic private transfers were somewhat more successful in reducing poverty. With most public and private transfers going to non‐poor households, inequality was only marginally affected.     

Impacts of the Triple Global Crisis on Growth and Poverty: The Case of Yemen

Yemen is an oil‐exporting and food‐importing country with the highest levels of poverty in the Middle East and North Africa. The impacts of the triple crisis are likely to further complicate pre‐existing conditions of conflict, oil depletion and governance failure. Using a dynamic CGE model, this article finds that oil‐driven growth in 2008 dominated the negative growth impacts of the food crisis, but that growth was not pro‐poor. The financial crisis of 2009 slowed growth sharply and raised the poverty rate to 42.8%, up from 34.8% in 2005/6. Poverty continues to be higher in rural areas, where almost half the population live in poverty.     

Charity,Volunteering Type and Subjective Wellbeing

We examine the impact of volunteering and charitable donations on subjective wellbeing. We further consider if the model of the volunteering work (formal vs. informal) and the geographical location of the charity organisation (local vs. international) people donate to has any impact on subjective wellbeing. Using UK’s Community Life Survey data, we find that volunteering and engagement in charity are positively associated with subjective wellbeing, measured by individual life satisfaction. We show that while there is a positive effect of volunteering and charity on life satisfaction, the level of utility gained depends on the type of charity or volunteering organisation engaged with (i.e. local or international). Specifically, donating to local (neighbourhood) charities as opposed to international/national charities is associated with higher wellbeing. Similarly, engaging in informal volunteering, compared to formal volunteering, is associated with higher wellbeing. To explain our results, we use the construal-level theory of psychological distance, which suggests that people think more concretely of actions and objects that they find spatially and socially close.

     

Fertiliser Subsidies and Social Cash Transfers as Complementary or Competing Instruments for Reducing Vulnerability to Hunger: The Case of Malawi

Fertiliser subsidies and social transfers are complementary instruments for reducing vulnerability to hunger in poor agrarian countries. The former act on production and aim to reduce food insecurity through yield growth, while the latter tackle food‐entitlement failures directly, by providing either food itself or the cash to purchase food to selected beneficiaries. The policies compete for scarce public resources, and each represents an ‘opportunity cost’ compared to the other. Using Malawi to illustrate these comparisons, this article shows that a mix of policies can be affordable, allowing for strategic choice over the portfolio most likely to achieve a reliable consumption floor for the most vulnerable rural people.     

The Design of Conditional Cash Transfers: Experiences from Argentina's Universal Child Allowance

Conditional cash transfers (CCTs) have spread rapidly in developing countries in the past decade. While there is extensive literature assessing their impacts health, education and other outcomes, little attention has been paid to beneficiaries' subjective experiences of CCT design. This article addresses this issue by exploring how beneficiaries of Argentina's flagship CCT, the Universal Child Allowance, perceive the programme's unique design features. We find male and female beneficiaries tend to support targeted transfers to female carers, and that confusion about payment schedules has important implications for beneficiary engagement. Analysis of these findings offers useful insights into how CCT programme design may affect outcomes.     

Understanding the Relationship Between Subjective Wellbeing and Gambling Behavior

This paper examines the relationship between gambling behavior and subjective wellbeing. It is often asserted that populations consist of different types of gamblers: those for whom gambling is a harmless leisure activity and those (pathological/problem gamblers) for whom the activity has harmful effects. One might, therefore, assume that subjective wellbeing will be negativity associated with an individual’s level of gambling addiction. Alternatively, gamblers may choose to gamble because they derive utility from participating in this activity and so the relationship between happiness and gambling might be positively correlated. In this paper we test this association, empirically, using data from the 2010 British Gambling Prevalence Survey. The statistically significant findings from this analysis support the hypothesis that individual wellbeing falls as gambling disorder increases.     

Cash Transfers and Children's Education and Labour among Malawi's Poor

This article examines the impact on children's education and labour of monthly cash grants targeted on ultra‐poor households and designed to reduce poverty and enable families to invest in human development. It conducts a randomised community trial, with baseline and endline surveys of intervention and control households; verifies school enrolment; and completes key‐informant interviews and focus‐group discussions. Compared with non‐beneficiaries, intervention children experienced a 5 percentage point difference in enrolment, higher educational expenditures, fewer absences, and a 10 percentage point decrease in labour outside the home. Qualitative data confirm the quantitative findings. Transfers to poor households had a positive impact. However, the Malawian educational system needs to be improved for short‐term impacts to lead to long‐term development in human capital.     

The Equity and Poverty Impacts of Aquaculture: Insights from the Philippines

Recent literature is sceptical about the ability of aquaculture development to enhance equity and reduce poverty. This article investigates the issue empirically by surveying 148 households randomly selected in five coastal communities of the Philippines. There is overwhelming evidence that aquaculture benefits the poor in important ways and that it is perceived very positively by poor and non‐poor alike. In particular, the poor derive a relatively larger share of their income from it than the rich, and a lowering of the poverty line only reinforces this result. A Gini decomposition exercise also shows unambiguously that aquaculture represents an inequality‐reducing source of income, providing employment to a large number of unskilled workers in communities characterised by large labour surpluses.     

Participation in LGBTQ Organizations in Colombia: Motivations and Impacts

Studies on sexual minorities have shown the positive impact of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, or queer (LGBTQ) community on the well-being of individuals. Few studies, however, have been interested in the role that LGBTQ organizations specifically play. Using a qualitative approach, this article examines individuals’ motivations to participate in LGBTQ organizations and how they think such participation impacts their lives. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 self-identified LGBTQ adults living in the Andean region of Colombia. Thematic analysis with inductive coding was used, and six themes were identified. Within these, two findings are particularly relevant to the existing literature. First, organizations play an important role as educational spaces where individuals can learn about their sexual identity. Second, organizations can also impact families of origin by promoting a better understanding and acceptance of participants’ sexual identity, and by promoting solidarity with LGBTQ community members.     

The Food Crisis and its Impacts on Poverty in Senegal and Mali: Crossed Destinies

This article uses two CGE macro‐micro models to analyse the distributional impact of the food crisis and policy responses in two neighbouring African countries, both of which are strongly dependent on agriculture. The approach captures structural differences at both the macro and micro level for household income and expenditure structures, and the results reveal differences for poverty impact at the national and sub‐group levels, as well as for inequality and pro‐poor analysis. The importance of country‐specific analysis and the risk of extrapolating conclusions from one country to another are also highlighted.     

Addressing the Burden of Education Financing in Low and Lower-Middle-Income Countries: The Role of Savings Accounts,Cash Transfers,and Other Income Sources

Journal of Family and Economic Issues - Cost-sharing between governments and families remains a strategic part of many governments’ post-secondary education funding policies in low-income...     

Reducing Child Labour Through Conditional Cash Transfers: Evidence from Nicaragua's Red de Protección Social

Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programmes, providing eligible households with periodic cash payments, contingent on their children's adherence to school enrolment and attendance requirements, hold considerable promise for reducing levels of child labour across the developing world. This article presents the results of an analysis of a CCT programme in Nicaragua, Red de Protección Social, and compares them with those of other CCT programmes, discussing how the structure of each programme's incentives, including differences in targeting, subsidy amounts and educational requirements, contributes to the variation in their effectiveness at reducing child labour.     

Connecting Cash Transfers with Care for Better Child and Family Well-Being: Evidence from a Qualitative Evaluation in South Africa

Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal - Limited evidence exists of the effectiveness of combining cash transfers and family strengthening interventions in developing country contexts. This study...     

Poverty in Nonmetropolitan America: Impacts of Industrial,Employment, and Family Structure Variables

Abstract Poverty is more extensive and more severe in nonmetropolitan areas than in metropolitan areas. Here we maintain that the extensive industrial and economic transformations occurring in rural areas have resulted in patterns contributing to these high poverty levels. These transformations, which include an increase in service‐sector employment, in many ways mirror the economic changes that have occurred in the inner city. We maintain that Wilson's model of the inner‐city underclass can be useful in understanding some poverty trends in nonmetropolitan areas. To test the Wilson model, we analyze 1990 census data. The data generally support the model and indicate that the industrial transformation of rural areas leads to changes in the gender structure of the labor force, and to a more unbalanced sex ratio. These changes, in turn, result in adjustments to family structure, including an increase in the percentage of female‐headed households. This process results in higher poverty levels.