[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wai/econwp/21-09.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Does the impact of cash transfers differ across poverty measures? Evidence from Pakistan

Author

Abstract
Cash transfers have been increasingly used in developing countries as key elements of social protection and poverty reduction strategies. Pakistan is no exception. In 2008, Pakistan introduced the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) as an unconditional cash transfer targeted at the poorest of the poor. In this paper, we use five poverty measures, calculated biennially from 2008 to 2014 for 100 districts in Pakistan to assess the effectiveness of the BISP in alleviating poverty. We also examine whether the impact of the cash transfer programs on poverty is sensitive to the choice of poverty measure. Our results show that BISP is associated with poverty reduction using either the conventional money-metric poverty measures or multidimensional poverty measures, however the impact is much larger for the conventional poverty measures, which are distributionally insensitive. The implication is that public policy analysts should be cautious in the conclusions they draw from poverty estimate when evaluating welfare programs.

Suggested Citation

  • Zaira Najam & Susan Olivia, 2021. "Does the impact of cash transfers differ across poverty measures? Evidence from Pakistan," Working Papers in Economics 21/09, University of Waikato.
    • Handle: RePEc:wai:econwp:21/09
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://repec.its.waikato.ac.nz/wai/econwp/2109.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sabina Alkire and Selim Jahan, 2018. "The New Global MPI 2018: Aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals," OPHI Working Papers ophiwp121.pdf, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    2. Gaurav Datt, 2019. "Distribution-Sensitive Multidimensional Poverty Measures," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 33(3), pages 551-572.
    3. Alkire, Sabina & Foster, James & Seth, Suman & Santos, Maria Emma & Roche, Jose Manuel & Ballon, Paola, 2015. "Multidimensional Poverty Measurement and Analysis," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199689491.
    4. Najam, Zaira, 2020. "The Sensitivity of Poverty Trends to Dimensionality and Distribution Sensitivity in Poverty Measures - District Level Analysis for Pakistan," MPRA Paper 102383, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Hwang, JaeHee & Lee, SeongWoo, 2015. "The effect of the rural tourism policy on non-farm income in South Korea," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 501-513.
    6. Sabina Alkire, James E. Foster, Suman Seth, Maria Emma Santos, Jose M. Roche and Paola Ballon, 2015. "Multidimensional Poverty Measurement and Analysis: Chapter 9 - Distribution and Dynamics," OPHI Working Papers ophiwp090_ch9.pdf, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    7. Sabina Alkire, James E. Foster, Suman Seth, Maria Emma Santos, José M. Roche and Paola Ballon, 2015. "Multidimensional Poverty Measurement and Analysis: Chapter 7 - Data and Analysis," OPHI Working Papers ophiwp088_ch7.pdf, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    8. Muhammad Ali Pasha & Parveen Shah & Saleem.Rahpota, 2018. "Benazir Income Support Programme (Bisp): Its Benefits And Implications," IBT Journal of Business Studies (JBS), Ilma University, Faculty of Management Science, vol. 14(2), pages 198-208.
    9. World Bank, 2016. "Pakistan Development Update, November 2016," World Bank Publications - Reports 25358, The World Bank Group.
    10. Sabina Alkire, Selim Jahan, 2018. "The New Global MPI 2018: Aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals," OPHI Working Papers 121, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    11. repec:idb:brikps:77778 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Muhammad Masood Azeem & Amin W. Mugera & Steven Schilizzi, 2019. "Do Social Protection Transfers Reduce Poverty and Vulnerability to Poverty in Pakistan? Household Level Evidence from Punjab," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(8), pages 1757-1783, August.
    13. Sabina Alkire & James E. Foster & Suman Seth & Maria Emma Santos & Jose M. Roche & Paola Ballon, 2015. "Multidimensional Poverty Measurement and Analysis: Chapter 2 - The Framework," OPHI Working Papers 83, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    14. Stephan Dietrich & Daniele Malerba & Armando Barrientos & Franziska Gassmann & Pierre Mohnen & Nyasha Tirivayi, 2020. "Human capital returns to cash transfers in Uganda: does it matter in the long run?," Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 54-73, January.
    15. Fosu, Augustin Kwasi, 2017. "Growth, inequality, and poverty reduction in developing countries: Recent global evidence," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 306-336.
    16. de Brauw, Alan & Hoddinott, John, 2011. "Must conditional cash transfer programs be conditioned to be effective? The impact of conditioning transfers on school enrollment in Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 359-370, November.
    17. Stephen Devereux, 2002. "Can Social Safety Nets Reduce Chronic Poverty?," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 20(5), pages 657-675, November.
    18. Johannes Haushofer & Jeremy Shapiro, 2016. "The Short-term Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers to the Poor: ExperimentalEvidence from Kenya," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(4), pages 1973-2042.
    19. Muhammad Ali Pasha & Parveen Shah & Saleem.Rahpota, 2018. "Benazir Income Support Programme (Bisp): Its Benefits And Implications," IBT Journal of Business Studies (JBS), Ilma University, Faculty of Management Science, vol. 14(1), pages 14-16.
    20. Alkire, Sabina & Foster, James, 2011. "Counting and multidimensional poverty measurement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7), pages 476-487.
    21. Paul Schultz, T., 2004. "School subsidies for the poor: evaluating the Mexican Progresa poverty program," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 199-250, June.
    22. Chris Elbers & Jean O. Lanjouw & Peter Lanjouw, 2003. "Micro--Level Estimation of Poverty and Inequality," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(1), pages 355-364, January.
    23. Ravallion, Martin, 2001. "Growth, Inequality and Poverty: Looking Beyond Averages," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(11), pages 1803-1815, November.
    24. Maxine Molyneux & With Nicola Jones & Fiona Samuels, 2016. "Can Cash Transfer Programmes Have ‘Transformative’ Effects?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(8), pages 1087-1098, August.
    25. Ravallion, Martin, 2004. "Pro-poor growth : A primer," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3242, The World Bank.
    26. Sabina Alkire & James E. Foster & Suman Seth & Maria Emma Santos & Jose M. Roche & Paola Ballon, 2015. "Multidimensional Poverty Measurement and Analysis: Chapter 9 - Distribution and Dynamics," OPHI Working Papers 90, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    27. Sabina Alkire, James E. Foster, Suman Seth, Maria Emma Santos, José M. Roche and Paola Ballon, 2015. "Multidimensional Poverty Measurement and Analysis: Chapter 2 - The Framework," OPHI Working Papers ophiwp083_ch2.pdf, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    28. Akresh, Richard & de Walque, Damien & Kazianga, Harounan, 2013. "Cash transfers and child schooling : evidence from a randomized evaluation of the role of conditionality," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6340, The World Bank.
    29. Margaret Grosh & Carlo del Ninno & Emil Tesliuc & Azedine Ouerghi, 2008. "For Protection and Promotion : The Design and Implementation of Effective Safety Nets," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6582.
    30. Sabina Alkire & James E. Foster & Suman Seth & Maria Emma Santos & Jose M. Roche & Paola Ballon, 2015. "Multidimensional Poverty Measurement and Analysis: Chapter 7 - Data and Analysis," OPHI Working Papers 88, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    31. World Bank, 2018. "The State of Social Safety Nets 2018," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 29115.
    32. Acosta,Pablo Ariel & Velarde,Rashiel Besana, 2015. "An update of the Philippine conditional cash transfer?s implementation performance," Policy Research Working Paper Series 104164, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alkire, Sabina & Oldiges, Christian & Kanagaratnam, Usha, 2021. "Examining multidimensional poverty reduction in India 2005/6–2015/16: Insights and oversights of the headcount ratio," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    2. Ali Akbar Barati & Milad Zhoolideh & Mostafa Moradi & Eydieh Sohrabi Mollayousef & Christine Fürst, 2022. "Multidimensional poverty and livelihood strategies in rural Iran," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(11), pages 12963-12993, November.
    3. Zaira Najam & John Gibson, 2021. "Does within-country poverty convergence depend on spatial spillovers and the type of poverty measure? Evidence from Pakistan," Working Papers in Economics 21/07, University of Waikato.
    4. Pablo González & Kirsten Sehnbruch & Mauricio Apablaza & Rocío Méndez Pineda & Veronica Arriagada, 2021. "A Multidimensional Approach to Measuring Quality of Employment (QoE) Deprivation in Six Central American Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 107-141, November.
    5. Khaufelo Raymond Lekobane & Keetie Roelen, 2020. "Leaving No One Behind: Multidimensional Child Poverty in Botswana," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 13(6), pages 2003-2030, December.
    6. Admasu,Yeshwas & Alkire,Sabina & Ekhator-Mobayode,Uche Eseosa & Kovesdi,Fanni & Santamaria,Julieth & Scharlin-Pettee[,Sophie, 2021. "A Multi-Country Analysis of Multidimensional Poverty in Contexts of Forced Displacement," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9826, The World Bank.
    7. Yohannes Mare & Yishak Gecho & Melkamu Mada, 2022. "Assessment of multidimensional rural poverty in Burji and Konso area, Southern Ethiopia," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 69(1), pages 49-69, March.
    8. Gaurav Datt, 2019. "Multidimensional poverty in the Philippines, 2004–2013: How much do choices for weighting, identification and aggregation matter?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1103-1128, October.
    9. Dutta, Indranil & Nogales, Ricardo & Yalonetzky, Gaston, 2021. "Endogenous weights and multidimensional poverty: A cautionary tale," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    10. Hai‐Anh H. Dang, 2021. "To impute or not to impute, and how? A review of poverty‐estimation methods in the absence of consumption data," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 39(6), pages 1008-1030, November.
    11. Santos Maria Emma & Lustig Nora & Miranda Zanetti Maximiliano, 2023. "Counting and Accounting: Measuring the Effectiveness of Fiscal Policy in Multidimensional Poverty Reduction," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4691, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    12. El Azami Hicham & Xia Qingjie, 2024. "Static and Dynamic Comparison of Monetary and Non-monetary Multidimensional Poverty: Evidence from Morocco (Article)," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 63(2), pages 161-184.
    13. Zaira Najam & John Gibson, 2022. "Does intra‐country poverty convergence depend on spatial spillovers and the type of poverty measure? Evidence from Pakistan," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(3), pages 516-535, September.
    14. Jacob Katuva & Rob Hope & Tim Foster & Johanna Koehler & Patrick Thomson, 2020. "Modelling Welfare Transitions to Prioritise Sustainable Development Interventions in Coastal Kenya," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-22, August.
    15. Vollmer, Frank & Alkire, Sabina, 2022. "Consolidating and improving the assets indicator in the global Multidimensional Poverty Index," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    16. Bao, Yanxi & Liao, Tingxuan, 2024. "Multidimensional poverty and growth: Evidence from India 1998–2021," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    17. Abre-Rehmat Qurat-ul-Ann & Faisal Mehmood Mirza, 2021. "Multidimensional Energy Poverty in Pakistan: Empirical Evidence from Household Level Micro Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 211-258, May.
    18. Tavares, Fernando Flores & Betti, Gianni, 2021. "The pandemic of poverty, vulnerability, and COVID-19: Evidence from a fuzzy multidimensional analysis of deprivations in Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    19. Andrea Brandolini & John Micklewright, 2020. "Tony Atkinson’s new book, Measuring Poverty Around the World. Some further reflections," Working Papers 518, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    20. Hai‐Anh Dang & Dean Jolliffe & Calogero Carletto, 2019. "Data Gaps, Data Incomparability, And Data Imputation: A Review Of Poverty Measurement Methods For Data‐Scarce Environments," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 757-797, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    poverty; cash transfers; multidimensional; social protection; Pakistan;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wai:econwp:21/09. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Geua Boe-Gibson (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dewaknz.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.