Resource transfers
Designing and evaluating social safety nets: theory, evidence and policy conclusions
Performance of social safety net programmes
Authors:
D. Coady
Publisher:
2020 Vision for Food, Agriculture and the Environment, International Food Policy Research Institute , 2004
This paper reviews the literature on the performance of commonly found social safety net programmes in developing countries. The paper highlights that:
- universal food subsidies have very limited potential for redistributing income
- while targeted food subsidies have greater potential, this can only be realised when adequate attention is given to the design and implementation, as well as to the social and political factors influencing the adoption of these programs
- social funds, which emphasise both community involvement and asset creation, have been cost-effective, but they are difficult to target to extremely poor households
- traditional public works programs are particularly attractive for addressing vulnerability, but they require flexibility regarding choice of output
- targeted human-capital subsidies appear to have great potential for addressing extreme poverty; but their design needs to reflect the human capital profile of countries and the administrative capability of the government.
[adapted from author]
