Geographic Inequity in a Decentralized Anti-Poverty Program : A Case Study of China

The central governments of many developing countries have chosen to decentralize their anti-poverty programs, in the expectation that local agents are better informed about local needs. The paper shows that this potential advantage of decentralized...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Ravallion, Martin
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:	ABSOLUTE POVERTY ABSOLUTE VALUE ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS ADMINISTRATIVE DATA AMOUNT OF INCOME ANTI-POVERTY PROGRAMS BASIC NEEDS BENEFICIARIES BENEFICIARY CALCULATION CASH TRANSFERS CENTRAL PLANNING COMMUNITY GROUPS COMPARATIVE ECONOMICS CONSUMER CONSUMER BEHAVIOR DATA REQUIREMENTS DATA SET DATA SETS DECENTRALIZATION DEFLATORS DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DIMINISHING RETURNS DISABILITY DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION DISTRIBUTIONAL EFFECT DISTRIBUTIONAL EFFECTS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC POLICY ECONOMIC REVIEW ECONOMICS RESEARCH EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS EXPLANATORY POWER FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES FISCAL CONSTRAINTS FIXED COST FUNCTIONAL FORMS GDP GROSS INCOME HOUSEHOLD INCOME HOUSEHOLD INCOMES IMPERFECT INFORMATION INCOME INCOME DISTRIBUTION INCOME EFFECT INCOME ELASTICITY INCOME LEVEL INCOME SHARE INEQUALITY INTERVENTION LACK OF INFORMATION LIVING STANDARDS LOCAL AUTHORITIES LOCAL POVERTY LOCAL POVERTY LINE LOG INCOME LONGITUDINAL DATA LOWER INCOME MEAN INCOME MEAN INCOMES MEASUREMENT ERRORS NATIONAL SURVEYS NEGOTIATION NEW POOR NORMAL DISTRIBUTION NORMAL GOOD PARTICIPATION RATES POLICY DISCUSSIONS POLICY RESEARCH POLITICAL ECONOMY POLITICAL INFLUENCE POOR POOR AREAS POOR PEOPLE POPULATION SHARE POSITIVE CORRELATION POVERTY GAP POVERTY GAP INDEX POVERTY IMPACT POVERTY LINE POVERTY LINES POVERTY PROBLEM POVERTY RATE POVERTY RATES POVERTY REDUCTION PROBABILITY PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION PUBLIC ECONOMICS PUBLIC EXPENDITURE PUBLIC PROGRAMS PUBLIC SPENDING QUESTIONNAIRE REAL INCOME REDISTRIBUTIVE IMPACT REDISTRIBUTIVE POLICIES REDUCING POVERTY REGIONAL INEQUALITY RELATIVE DISTRIBUTION RELATIVE POVERTY RISING INCOME INEQUALITY SAMPLE SIZE SELECTION BIAS SOCIAL ASSISTANCE SOCIAL PROTECTION SOCIAL SERVICES SOCIAL SPENDING STATE TAXES TARGETED TRANSFERS TARGETING TAXATION UNDERESTIMATES WAGES
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/08/8042377/geographic-inequity-decentralized-anti-poverty-program-case-study-china http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7499

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Summary:	The central governments of many developing countries have chosen to decentralize their anti-poverty programs, in the expectation that local agents are better informed about local needs. The paper shows that this potential advantage of decentralized eligibility criteria can come at a large cost, to the extent that the induced geographic inequities undermine performance in reaching the income- poor nationally. These issues are studied empirically for (probably) the largest transfer-based poverty program in the world, namely China's Di Bao program, which aims to assure a minimum income through means-tested transfers. Poor municipalities are found to adopt systematically lower eligibility thresholds, reducing the program's ability to reach poor areas, and generating considerable horizontal inequity.

Geographic Inequity in a Decentralized Anti-Poverty Program : A Case Study of China

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