REACHING THE RURAL POOR THROUGH PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT: Arguments, Evidence, and Lessons from South Asia

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
With the limited set of policy instruments typically avaiable in the rural sectors of developing countries, imperfect coverage of the poor and leakage ot the nonpoor must be expected from even the most well-intentioned poverty alleviation scheme. One way to reach the poor more effectively is to build incentives for self-selection into the scheme. Labor-intensive rural public works projects have the potential to reach and protect the poor, as well as to create and maintain rural infrastructure. The limited evidence for South Asia suggests that few nonpoor persons want to participate, and that both direct and indirect transfer ever, be rapidly dissipated by a badly concevided and executed project; the details of how project are selected, designed, and financed are crucial to success in both the short and the long run.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: