Failure vs. Displacement: Why an Innovative Anti-Poverty Program Showed No Net Impact

Morduch, Jonathan; Ravi, Shamika; Bauchet, Jonathan

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2134779

Cited by 20 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Moreover, in contrast to current evaluations of ultra-poor programs, we document these impacts over the longer term, up to six years after the receipt of the Girinka cow for some households. Relative to some of the ultra-poor evaluations described above Murdoch et al, 2012;Bandiera et al, 2013) we also provide more detailed evidence on the mechanisms through which such programs likely generate earnings gains to households, such as the propensity to produce milk, and milk yields per animal. 2 To evaluate the Girinka program and measure the impacts of farmers having received training with the asset transfers relative to those that only received the asset, in 2012 we surveyed 885 beneficiaries of the Girinka program in 2012.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…evaluate a comparable bundled program of livestock asset transfers and training in West Bengal and find consumption increases of 15% relative to baseline. Finally, Murdoch et al (2012) evaluate a similar program in Utter Pradesh, India, but find more muted impacts, perhaps because of the co-existence of a generous wage employment program operating in Utter Pradesh at the same time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Livestock asset transfers with and without training: Evidence from Rwanda

Argent

Augsburg

Rasul

2014

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization

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Available online xxx JEL classification: O13 Q12 Keywords: Livestock asset transfer Training Ultra-poor a b s t r a c tWe present evidence from Rwanda's Girinka ('One Cow per Poor Family') program that has distributed more than 130,000 livestock asset transfers in the form of cows to the rural poor since 2006. Supply side constraints on the program resulted in some beneficiaries receiving complementary training with the cow transfer, and other households not receiving such training with their cow. We exploit these differences to estimate the additional impact of receiving complementary training with the cow transfer, on household's economic outcomes up to six years after having received the livestock asset transfer. Our results show that even in a setting such as rural Rwanda where linkages between farmers and produce markets are weak, the provision of training with asset transfers has permanent and economically significant impacts on milk production, milk yields from livestock, household earnings, and asset accumulation. The results have important implications for the design of 'ultra-poor' livestock asset transfer programs being trialled globally as a means to allow the rural poor to better their economic lives.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Livestock asset transfers with and without training: Evidence from Rwanda

Argent

Augsburg

Rasul

2014

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization

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“…On the profit side, it does not include unrealized capital gains (for examples as more calves are born, if they are not sold). 10 In some sites individuals were shown a ten-rung ladder and asked "How would you describe your satisfaction with life? If the top rung of this ladder (10) represents very satisfied and the lowest rung (1) represents very dissatisfied, where would you place yourself?"…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…10 By endline 2, the positive impact on the mental health index has declined to 0.071 standard deviations, but it remains significantly positive and continues to be driven by both self-reported happiness and lack of stress. This minor decrease in the treatment effect may be another instance of the well-known "hedonic treadmill" (18).…”

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confidence: 99%

A multifaceted program causes lasting progress for the very poor: Evidence from six countries

Banerjee¹,

Duflo

Goldberg

et al. 2015

Science

735

577

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We present results from six randomized control trials of an integrated approach to improve livelihoods amongst the very poor. The approach combines the transfer of a productive asset with consumption support, training and coaching plus savings encouragement and health education and/or services. Results from the implementation of the same basic program, adapted to a wide variety of geographic and institutional contexts and with multiple implementing partners, show statistically significant, costeffective impacts on consumption (fueled mostly by increases in self-employment income) and psychosocial status of the targeted households. The impact on the poor households lasted at least a year after all implementation ended. It is possible to make sustainable improvements in the economic status of the poor with a relatively short-term intervention. † MIT, CEPR, NBER and Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) ‡ MIT, CEPR, NBER and J-PAL

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“…Higher incomes appear to derive from enterprises operated by the household, but they find no significant effect on non-farm economic activity. Related impacts were measured in other studies with the exception of Morduch et al (2012), who find no impact on consumption, income, or assets after 12 months. Buera et al (2014b) simulate the long-run impact of asset grants in general equilibrium.…”

Section: Policiesmentioning

confidence: 90%