Social assistance in developing countries

271 Pages·2013·1.539 MB·English

by  Armando Barrientos

Social Assistance in Developing Countries
Therapidspreadoflarge-scaleandinnovativesocialtransfersinthedevel-
oping world has made a key contribution to the significant reduction in
globalpovertyoverthelastdecade.Explaininghowflagshipanti-poverty
programmesemerged,thisbookprovidesthefirstcomprehensiveaccount
oftheglobalgrowthofsocialassistancetransfersindevelopingcountries.
Armando Barrientos begins by focusing on the ethical and conceptual
foundations of social assistance, and he discusses the justifications for
assisting those in poverty. He provides a primer on poverty analysis, and
introduces readers to the theory of optimal transfers. He then shifts the
focus to practice, and introduces a classification of social assistance pro-
grammestohelpreadersunderstandthediversityinapproachesanddesign
indevelopingcountries.Thebookconcludeswithananalysisofthefinan-
cing and politics of the emerging institutions and of their potential to
addressglobalpoverty.
armandobarrientosisProfessorandResearchDirectorattheBrooks
World Poverty Institute at the University of Manchester. His research
interests focus on the linkages between welfare programmes and labour
markets in developing countries, and on policies addressing poverty, vul-
nerability and population ageing. His most recent books are Just Give
Moneytothe Poor:TheDevelopmentRevolution fromthe GlobalSouth
(2010, with Joseph Hanlon and David Hulme), Demographics,
Employment and Old Age Security: Emerging Trends and Challenges in
SouthAsia(2010,editedwithMoneerAlam)andSocialProtectionforthe
PoorandPoorest:Concepts,PoliciesandPolitics(2008,editedwithDavid
Hulme).

Social Assistance in
Developing Countries
armando barrientos
BWPI,UniversityofManchester
UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom
PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107039025
©ArmandoBarrientos2013
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
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Firstpublished2013
PrintedandboundintheUnitedKingdombytheMPGBooksGroup
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
Barrientos,Armando.
Socialassistanceindevelopingcountries/ArmandoBarrientos,BWPI,Universityof
Manchester.
pages cm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindexes.
1. Transferpayments–Developingcountries. 2. Publicwelfare–Developing
countries. 3. Poverty–Developingcountries. I. Title.
HC59.72.P63B37 2013
362.5082091724–dc23
2013010586
ISBN978-1-107-03902-5Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
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For
MichaelBrecker(1949–2007)
ZimNgqawana(1959–2011)

Contents
Listoffigures pagex
Listoftables xi
Acknowledgements xii
PartI Introduction 1
1 Theemergenceofsocialassistanceindevelopingcountries 3
Whatisnew? 4
Whysocialassistance? 7
Whynow? 11
Whattoexpectfromanti-povertytransfers? 12
Theendgame:institutionbuildingandpovertyeradication 14
Breakingnewground 15
Structureofthebook 17
PartII Foundations 23
2 Ethicalfoundations 25
Justificationsforassistingthoseinpoverty 26
Individualmoralityandassistance 26
Assistancewithinapoliticalconceptionofjustice 29
Thevalueandlimitsofassistance 34
Priority 34
Sufficiency 39
Sufficiencyandpriority 41
Theethicalfoundationsofassistingthoseinpoverty 43
3 Povertyconceptsandmeasuresforsocialassistance 45
Whatispoverty? 46
Measuringpoverty:howmuchpovertyisin...? 48
Well-beingindicatorsandthresholds 49
Identificationandaggregation 51
Commonlyusedpovertyindexes 53
vii
viii Contents
TheFoster–Greer–Thorbeckemeasure 54
TheWattsmeasure 54
TheSenmeasure 55
Multidimensionalindexes 56
Axiomsanddominance 57
Povertydynamicsandvulnerability 60
Globalpoverty? 62
Conclusions 63
AdditionalnotesA3 64
4 Optimalanti-povertytransfers 71
Optimalallocationofalimitedanti-povertybudget 73
Incomemaintenancetransfers 77
Taxpayers’preferencesandgovernmentanti-povertypolicy 78
Classification 81
Workincentives 87
Generosity 88
Welfaristapproachestooptimaltransfers 90
Conclusions 95
PartIII Practice 97
5 Anti-povertytransfersinpractice 99
Socialassistanceindevelopedanddevelopingcountries 100
Typologyofanti-povertytransferprogrammes
indevelopingcountries 106
Programmeobjectives 110
Beneficiaryselection 113
Transfermodalities 116
Co-responsibilityandconditions 121
Durationandexit 125
Conclusions 127
6 Incidence,implementationandimpact 130
Incidence 131
Measuringerrorsinselection 132
Aprocessapproach 137
Implementation 141
Verticalandhorizontalcoordination 141
Information 143
Impact 145
Impactonpoverty 147
Impactonconsumption 149
Contents ix
Impactonproductivecapacity 151
Long-termeffectsoftransfers? 154
Laboursupplyeffects 155
Conclusions 159
AdditionalnotesA6 160
7 Budgets,financeandpolitics 165
Socialassistancebudgets 167
Socialassistanceexpenditureindevelopingcountries 168
Needsassessmentsofsocialassistanceexpenditure 172
Financinganti-povertytransfers 176
Therevenuemobilisationapproachanditsdrawbacks 176
Financingmixandtrends 178
Thefinancingmixandsocialassistance 181
Incentives 185
Legitimacy 191
Conclusions 196
PartIV Conclusion 199
8 Thefutureofsocialassistanceindevelopingcountries 201
Mainchallengesahead 202
Evolutionofsocialassistance 209
Povertyresearchandsocialassistance 210
Evolutioninprogrammedesign 213
Primacyofnationalgovernments 215
Linkingtaxesandtransfers 216
Socialcontracts 218
Tenfindings 219
References 224
Index 250