Narayan Das

How Much Can Asset Transfers Help the Poorest? Evaluating the Results of BRAC's Ultra-Poor Programme (2002–2008)

Abstract The impacts of an innovative programme in rural Bangladesh, which has assisted extremely poor households, literally the poorest of the poor, were assessed over a six-year period (2002–2008). The provision of a substantial dose of assets has helped produce very positive results, by and large. Vulnerability to downturns on account of negative events, such as illnesses and house damage, has resulted in asset losses for several assisted households. Additional measures that reduce vulnerability and risk will help complete the good work commenced by the asset transfer plan.

Can ultra-poverty be sustainably improved? Evidence from BRAC in Bangladesh

With more than one-fifth of Bangladeshs population living in extreme poverty, surmounting it still remains a substantial predicament for development practitioners. To combat this issue, BRAC initiated the multifaceted Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction programme with a grant-based approach, reinforcing its efficacy with background services such as health and social development. Using propensity score matching, this paper analyses a three-round panel dataset (2002–2005–2008) to evaluate the impacts of the programme. We find that Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction is successfully able to increase the per-capita income, the productive asset bases and the overall food security of its participants in the long run.

Migration as a risky enterprise: A diagnostic for Bangladesh

We provide a quantitative diagnostic of attempts by Bangladeshi workers at migrating to foreign countries and the risks that they face in doing so. We show that migration failures may be as high as one-third of attempts at migrating, with large financial losses for households with an aspiring migrant. Using a duration model, we find that success in migrating is associated with a current higher national migration, larger village migration network, and urban residence. We also find that in spite of the high cost of failure, there are still large expected gains from trying to migrate.