Unconditional Cash Transfers in China : An Analysis of the Rural Minimum Living Standard Guarantee Program

This paper examines China’s rural minimum living standard guarantee (dibao) program, one of the largest minimum income cash transfer schemes in the world. Using household survey data matched with published administrative data, the paper describes t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Golan, Jennifer, Sicular, Terry, Umapathi, Nithin
Format:	Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2015
Subjects:	POVERTY THRESHOLD HOUSEHOLD INCOMES TRANSFER AMOUNTS POOR‐ PEOPLE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SIZE CASH TRANSFER PROGRAM POVERTY REDUCTION VILLAGE LEADERS POVERTY LINE IMPACT ON POVERTY PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION FEEDBACK POVERTY LEVELS NET INCOME INCOME SCHOOLING POVERTY RATES HOUSEHOLD PARTICIPATION RURAL POOR HOUSEHOLD‐SIZE COUNTERFACTUAL PROGRAMS HOUSING DEATH RURAL INCOMES FAMILY MEMBERS IMPACTS EGALITARIAN DISTRIBUTION POOR PEOPLE POVERTY GAP INDEX POORER GROUPS POORER HOUSEHOLDS POVERTY‐REDUCING INTERNATIONAL POVERTY LINES POOR AREA CORRUPTION SOCIAL PROGRAMS REGIONAL POPULATIONS SOCIAL ASSISTANCE RURAL POPULATION BENEFICIARIES MEASURES POVERTY MEASURES INSTRUMENTS RURAL CONSUMER REGION HOUSEHOLD INCOME POORER AREAS POVERTY OUTCOMES SAVINGS DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS RURAL HOUSEHOLD PER CAPITA INCOME RURAL HOUSEHOLDS NATURAL DISASTER INCOME DISTRIBUTION HOUSEHOLD HEAD POVERTY GAP VILLAGE CHARACTERISTICS SOCIAL PROTECTION PARTICIPATION RATES POVERTY INCIDENCE TRANSFERS POOR AREAS DESTITUTE HOUSEHOLDS ESTIMATES OF POVERTY LEARNING INDICATORS SOCIAL SECURITY RESEARCH CASH TRANSFERS POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROGRAMS POVERTY LINES CONSUMPTION RURAL POVERTY POLICY CHANGES POVERTY IMPACTS ANTIPOVERTY PROGRAM PARTICIPATION VILLAGE‐LEVEL POVERTY‐REDUCTION POOR‐AREAS HOUSEHOLD PER CAPITA INCOME POVERTY IMPACT FLEXIBILITY RURAL POVERTY ALLEVIATION ABSOLUTE POVERTY RURAL ECONOMY RURAL MEANS TESTING SAMPLE SIZE RURAL EMPLOYMENT POOR BENEFICIARIES TRANSFER PROGRAMS SURVEYS POOR COUNTIES CASH TRANSFER PROGRAMS TARGETING RURAL AREAS REGIONS VILLAGE LEVEL STATISTICS EVALUATION POOR HOUSEHOLDS SAMPLING POVERTY POVERTY ALLEVIATION BENEFICIARY HOUSEHOLDS CONSUMER PRICE INDEX POVERTY RATE POOR AUTONOMOUS REGIONS OUTCOMES WAGE EMPLOYMENT AUDITING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INEQUALITY
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/07/24808135/unconditional-cash-transfers-china-analysis-rural-minimum-living-standard-guarantee-program http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22458

Description
Summary:	This paper examines China’s rural minimum living standard guarantee (dibao) program, one of the largest minimum income cash transfer schemes in the world. Using household survey data matched with published administrative data, the paper describes the dibao program, estimates the program’s impact on poverty, and carries out targeting analysis. The analysis finds that the program provides sufficient income to poor beneficiaries but does not substantially reduce the overall level of poverty, in part because the number of beneficiaries is small relative to the number of poor. Conventional targeting analysis reveals rather large inclusionary and exclusionary targeting errors; propensity score targeting analysis yields smaller but still large targeting errors. Simulations of possible reforms to the dibao program indicate that expanding coverage can potentially yield greater poverty reduction than increasing transfer amounts. In addition, replacing locally diverse dibao lines with a nationally uniform dibao threshold could in theory reduce poverty. The potential gains in poverty reduction, however, depend on the effectiveness of targeting.

Unconditional Cash Transfers in China : An Analysis of the Rural Minimum Living Standard Guarantee Program

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