The Impact and Targeting of Social Infrastructure Investments : Lessons from the Nicaraguan Social
The benefit incidence and impact of projects financed by the Nicaraguan Emergency Social Investment Fund are investigated using a sample of beneficiaries, a national household survey, and two distinct comparison groups. The first group is construct...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC: World Bank
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2002/05/17741850/impact-targeting-social-infrastructure-investments-lessons-nicaraguan-social-fund-impact-evaluation-social-funds http://hdl.handle.net/10986/17203 |
| Summary: | The benefit incidence and impact of
projects financed by the Nicaraguan Emergency Social
Investment Fund are investigated using a sample of
beneficiaries, a national household survey, and two distinct
comparison groups. The first group is constructed on the
basis of geographic proximity between similar facilities and
their corresponding communities; the second is drawn from
the national living standards measurement study survey
sample using propensity score matching techniques. The
analysis finds that the social fund investments in latrines,
schools, and health posts are targeted to poor communities
and households, whereas those in sewerage are targeted to
the better-off. Investments in water systems are
poverty-neutral. Education investments have a positive,
significant impact on school outcomes regardless of the
comparison group used. The results of health investments are
less clear. Using one comparison group, the analysis finds
that use of health clinics increased as a result of the
investments; using both, it finds higher use of clinics for
children under age six with diarrhea. With neither
comparison group does it find improvements in health
outcomes. Social fund investments in water and sanitation
improve access to services but have no effect on health outcomes. |
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