Benjamin Davis

The Experience of Conditional Cash Transfers in Latin America and the Caribbean

This article discusses the experience of six conditional cash transfer programmes in Latin America, a model of social safety-nets which has grown to dominate the social protection sector in the region during the past decade. While they have been generally successful in terms of achieving their core objective, it is still not clear whether these programmes constitute the most cost-efficient or sustainable solution to the development bottleneck they seek to address. Furthermore, the almost exclusive focus on the human capital accumulation of children leads to missed opportunties in terms of impact on household welfare and the broader rural development context.

Discerning Transient from Chronic Poverty in Nicaragua: Measurement With a Two-Period Panel Data Set

This paper proposes a new definition of chronic poverty based on a dynamic model of consumption. While previous measures were mostly based on average observed consumption or income, we exploit longitudinal data in order to identify descending and escaping households. The methodology is applied to panel data for Nicaragua (1998–2001), with a focus on the impact of different labour activities and human capital on chronic and transient poverty.Cet article propose une nouvelle définition de la pauvreté chronique en se fondant sur un modele dynamique de consommation. Alors que les précédentes mesures étaient essentiellement basées sur une moyenne de la consommation ou de linvestissement, nous exploitons des données longitudinales afin didentifier les ménages dont la pauvreté saccroît et ceux qui en sortent. La méthodologie est appliquée à des données de panel pour le Nicaragua (1998–2001), en mettant laccent sur limpact de différentes activités de la main dœuvre et du capital humain sur la pauvreté chronique et transitoire.

Can unconditional cash transfers raise long-term living standards? Evidence from Zambia

In Africa, state-sponsored cash transfer programs now reach nearly 50 million people. Do these programs raise long-term living standards? We examine this question using experimental data from two unconditional cash transfer programs implemented by the Zambian Government. We find far-reaching effects of the programs both on food security and consumption as well as on a range of productive outcomes. After three years, household spending is on average 67 percent larger than the value of the transfer received, implying a sizeable multiplier effect, which works through increased non-farm activity and agricultural production.