Suchergebnisse

The Bantuan Langsung Tunai (BLT) program had a clear and modest objective: supplement consumption for poor households facing unprecedented price increases. In 2005 subsidy cuts raised household fuel prices by an average of over 125 percent with 88, 186, and 105 percent increases in gasoline, kerosene, and solar (diesel) fuels respectively. BLT, a direct cash transfer in four installments over one year, funded from the implied budgetary savings from subsidy reductions, was in many respects the most significant Government of Indonesia (GOI) response to these programmed increases in fuel prices. It was targeted to the poor households who were benefiting least from the old subsidy regime and most at risk from the negative impacts on consumption from price increases. A mostly-similar BLT was introduced again in 2008 when international crises in both financial markets and in food prices combined with another domestic reduction to fuel subsidies. BLT provided just-in-time cash assistance to households affected by an economic shock. BLT added cash amounts to a household's budget equal to approximately 15 percent of regular expenditures in 2005. These transfers were more than enough to cover increased expenditure on fuels. Benefits continued for one year as shocks from government policy reverberated through the rest of the macro-economy, allowing beneficiaries time to readjust spending patterns to new relative prices.

During the past decade, the use of conditional cash transfer programs to increase investment in human capital has generated considerable excitement in both research and policy forums. This article surveys the existing literature, which suggests that most conditional cash transfer programs are used for essentially one of two purposes: restoring efficiency when externalities exist or improving equity by targeting resources to poor households. The programs often meet their stated objectives, but in some instances there is tension between the efficiency and equity objectives. The overall impact of a program depends on the gains and losses associated with each objective.

AbstractThis study analyzes the short‐term impact of an exogenous, positive income shock on caregivers' subjective well‐being (SWB) in Malawi using panel data from 3,365 households targeted to receive Malawi's Social Cash Transfer Program that provides unconditional cash to ultra‐poor, labor‐constrained households. The study consists of a cluster‐randomized, longitudinal design. After the baseline survey, half of these village clusters were randomly selected to receive the transfer and a follow‐up was conducted 17 months later. We find that the short‐term impact of household income increases from the cash transfer leads to substantial SWB gains among caregivers. After a year's worth of transfers, caregivers in beneficiary households have higher life satisfaction and are more likely to believe in a better future. We examine whether program impacts on consumption, food security, resilience, and hopefulness could explain the increase in SWB but do not find that any of these mechanisms individually mediate our results.

This paper discusses the nature & political impact of two anti-poverty programs, Bolsa Familia in Brazil & Oportunidades in Mexico. These programs are two examples of a new brand of anti-poverty programs, known as conditional cash transfer schemes (CCTs). Under CCTs, a government gives cash to poor households in exchange for the beneficiaries fulfilling certain conditions, such as ensuring that their children maintain a given level of school attendance, bringing their children to health clinics for regular visits, etc. CCTs aim to alleviate poverty in the short-term, through the redistribution of wealth by cash transfers, & in the long-term, by building up human capital among the poor through improved education, health, & nutrition. President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva initiated Bolsa Familia in Brazil in 2003, & President Vicente Fox of the Partido Accion Nacional (PAN) initiated Oportunidades in Mexico in 2002. This paper investigates the relationship between the federal government & the beneficiaries of these programs, specifically aiming to uncover to what extent the programs can be used -- and are being used -- for political gain. It concludes with a comparison of the impact of the respective programs on the most recent presidential elections in Brazil & Mexico. Adapted from the source document.

FLOORCASH-SocCit provides comprehensive computable data on entitlements to social cash transfers in the global South. The dataset covers 282 social cash transfer programmes in 148 countries and small territories, as of 2012/13. FLOORCASH-SocCit has been constructed in view of the sociological concept of social citizenship, focusing on entitlements to social cash transfers rather than welfare outcomes. FLOORCASH-SocCit emphasises three aspects: inclusion of social groups (with more refined data than earlier studies), conditions of access to benefits, and institutionalization of the programmes. FLOORCASH-SocCit can be used for studies with different units of analysis (programmes, target categories, countries).