Social Protection in Niger : What Have Shocks and Time Got to Say?
Social protection programs, common in developing countries, can be wide ranging. Expenditures on social schemes are large, but their effectiveness and ability to act as safety nets against shocks can be limited. This paper devises a tractable empir...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2018
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/359581527602211287/Social-protection-in-Niger-what-have-shocks-and-time-got-to-say http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29884 |
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okr-10986-298842021-06-08T14:42:46Z Social Protection in Niger : What Have Shocks and Time Got to Say? Annan, Francis Sanoh, Aly SOCIAL INVERVENTION SHOCKS VULNERABILITY INCENTIVES HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION POVERTY SOCIAL PROTECTION SAFETY NETS MIGRATION LABOR MARKET SOCIAL ASSISTANCE COPING STRATEGIES Social protection programs, common in developing countries, can be wide ranging. Expenditures on social schemes are large, but their effectiveness and ability to act as safety nets against shocks can be limited. This paper devises a tractable empirical framework to explore several hypotheses in social protection schemes in Niger. The analyses document two important results. First, non-poverty status and household consumption expenditures decline remarkably when exposed to extreme shocks, that is, declines between 31 and 48 percentage points and 24,278 and 47,549 CFA, respectively. In response, affected households employ a vector of strategies to deal with realized shocks, ranging from the use of livestock holdings to doing nothing. There is evidence of substitution across the shock-strategy set over time. Engaging in migration as a coping mechanism leads to worse household outcomes. This result can be explained by theories of asymmetric information between migrants and their families, and unfavorable labor market conditions at migrants' destination. Second, social transfers are crucial only in the second quarter of the calendar year. Social assistance provided within the second quarter appear to be effective on average and significantly dampens the impact of shocks on households' consumption and vulnerability. The paper interprets this finding as evidence against the long-standing incentive-hypothesis that providing social assistance is a disincentive for households to engage in possible coping strategies, and makes them more sensitive to external shocks for behavioral reasons. The results have important implications for the design and delivery of social assistance programs. 2018-06-18T20:01:23Z 2018-06-18T20:01:23Z 2018-05 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/359581527602211287/Social-protection-in-Niger-what-have-shocks-and-time-got-to-say http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29884 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8455 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Africa Niger |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
SOCIAL INVERVENTION SHOCKS VULNERABILITY INCENTIVES HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION POVERTY SOCIAL PROTECTION SAFETY NETS MIGRATION LABOR MARKET SOCIAL ASSISTANCE COPING STRATEGIES |
| spellingShingle |
SOCIAL INVERVENTION SHOCKS VULNERABILITY INCENTIVES HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION POVERTY SOCIAL PROTECTION SAFETY NETS MIGRATION LABOR MARKET SOCIAL ASSISTANCE COPING STRATEGIES Annan, Francis Sanoh, Aly Social Protection in Niger : What Have Shocks and Time Got to Say? |
| geographic_facet |
Africa Niger |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8455 |
| description |
Social protection programs, common in
developing countries, can be wide ranging. Expenditures on
social schemes are large, but their effectiveness and
ability to act as safety nets against shocks can be limited.
This paper devises a tractable empirical framework to
explore several hypotheses in social protection schemes in
Niger. The analyses document two important results. First,
non-poverty status and household consumption expenditures
decline remarkably when exposed to extreme shocks, that is,
declines between 31 and 48 percentage points and 24,278 and
47,549 CFA, respectively. In response, affected households
employ a vector of strategies to deal with realized shocks,
ranging from the use of livestock holdings to doing nothing.
There is evidence of substitution across the shock-strategy
set over time. Engaging in migration as a coping mechanism
leads to worse household outcomes. This result can be
explained by theories of asymmetric information between
migrants and their families, and unfavorable labor market
conditions at migrants' destination. Second, social
transfers are crucial only in the second quarter of the
calendar year. Social assistance provided within the second
quarter appear to be effective on average and significantly
dampens the impact of shocks on households' consumption
and vulnerability. The paper interprets this finding as
evidence against the long-standing incentive-hypothesis that
providing social assistance is a disincentive for households
to engage in possible coping strategies, and makes them more
sensitive to external shocks for behavioral reasons. The
results have important implications for the design and
delivery of social assistance programs. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Annan, Francis Sanoh, Aly |
| author_facet |
Annan, Francis Sanoh, Aly |
| author_sort |
Annan, Francis |
| title |
Social Protection in Niger : What Have Shocks and Time Got to Say? |
| title_short |
Social Protection in Niger : What Have Shocks and Time Got to Say? |
| title_full |
Social Protection in Niger : What Have Shocks and Time Got to Say? |
| title_fullStr |
Social Protection in Niger : What Have Shocks and Time Got to Say? |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Social Protection in Niger : What Have Shocks and Time Got to Say? |
| title_sort |
social protection in niger : what have shocks and time got to say? |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2018 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/359581527602211287/Social-protection-in-Niger-what-have-shocks-and-time-got-to-say http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29884 |
| _version_ |
1764470626437824512 |