Public Works as a Productive Safety Net in a Post-Conflict Setting : Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in Sierra Leone
This paper examines the short-term impacts of a labor-intensive public works program on household welfare and economic prospects. Using a community-level randomized control trial approach, the paper finds that the public works program targeted at y...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/02/25977554/public-works-productive-safety-net-post-conflict-setting-evidence-randomized-evaluation-sierra-leone http://hdl.handle.net/10986/23916 |
| Summary: | This paper examines the short-term
impacts of a labor-intensive public works program on
household welfare and economic prospects. Using a
community-level randomized control trial approach, the paper
finds that the public works program targeted at youth in
Sierra Leone successfully provided temporary employment to
youth characterized by low educational attainment. Cash
income among program participants increased by nearly three
times relative to the control counterparts, and treatment
households experienced a 29 percent rise in monthly income.
There is also evidence of significant re-optimization of
household labor allocation and expenditure in response to
program participation. First, there is an overall
crowding-in of labor force participation by household
members beyond program participation. Second, the extra
income is spent partly to improve the quality of life and
partly to secure future earnings. The treated households
raised spending on food, medicines, and assets. They also
expanded utilization of health services. Meanwhile, the
consumption of temptation goods was greater, albeit by a
small amount, and the rate of absenteeism among students was
higher. To secure future earnings, the treated households
set up new businesses: they were nearly four times more
likely than the control households to set up new household
enterprises. They also boosted their participation in
informal savings groups and their investments in their homes
and existing businesses. These results demonstrate that
public works interventions have considerable potential as
productive safety nets in post-conflict settings such as
Sierra Leone. They can provide immediate income support, but
also open avenues for investment in the productive capacity
of poor households. |
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