Assessing the Impact and Cost of Economic Inclusion Programs : A Synthesis of Evidence

This paper analyzes global evidence on the impact and costs of economic inclusion programs to transform the economic lives of households and communities living in extreme poverty. The analysis uses 107 quantitative and qualitative impact evaluation...

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Main Authors: Paul, Boban Varghese, Dutta, Puja Vasudeva, Chaudhary, Sarang
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/471531612369491284/Assessing-the-Impact-and-Cost-of-Economic-Inclusion-Programs-A-Synthesis-of-Evidence
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35109
id okr-10986-35109
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spelling okr-10986-351092022-09-20T00:09:17Z Assessing the Impact and Cost of Economic Inclusion Programs : A Synthesis of Evidence Paul, Boban Varghese Dutta, Puja Vasudeva Chaudhary, Sarang ECONOMIC INCLUSION SAFETY NETS ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES SOCIAL PROTECTION CASH TRANSFERS PUBLIC WORKS LIVELIHOODS JOB CREATION PROGRAM FINANCIAL INCLUSION WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT IMPACT EVIDENCE COST EVIDENCE This paper analyzes global evidence on the impact and costs of economic inclusion programs to transform the economic lives of households and communities living in extreme poverty. The analysis uses 107 quantitative and qualitative impact evaluations from 80 economic inclusion programs. Additionally, the paper presents analysis of costing data from 34 programs, surveyed using a newly developed PEI Quick Costing Tool 2020. The programs represent a range of sectors, geographies, contexts, and target populations; were both nongovernmental organization- and government-led; and represent programs implemented through social safety nets, livelihoods and jobs, and financial inclusion. Despite the challenges of the small number of studies available and limited comparability of impact and cost data, the findings indicate that a broad range of economic inclusion programs show promising and potentially sustained impact on a wide range of outcomes, with a bundled set of interventions showing larger impact on income, assets, and savings relative to stand-alone interventions. In many cases, the overall cost of economic inclusion programs is largely driven by a single component -- most frequently, business capital or consumption support. In its discussion, the paper explores drivers of impact and cost optimization strategies, preparing a preliminary understanding of cost-effectiveness of economic inclusion programs. The paper also identifies key areas for further research, including the need to shift the discussion on program impact from stand-alone, nonprofit-led programs to government-led programs; the opportunity to use a more systematic evidence base with comparable impact and cost outcomes and indicators; and prospects for using data, including disaggregated cost data, to inform policy and programming decisions more intentionally. 2021-02-04T17:31:17Z 2021-02-04T17:31:17Z 2021-02 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/471531612369491284/Assessing-the-Impact-and-Cost-of-Economic-Inclusion-Programs-A-Synthesis-of-Evidence http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35109 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9536 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
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic ECONOMIC INCLUSION
SAFETY NETS
ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES
SOCIAL PROTECTION
CASH TRANSFERS
PUBLIC WORKS
LIVELIHOODS
JOB CREATION PROGRAM
FINANCIAL INCLUSION
WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT
IMPACT EVIDENCE
COST EVIDENCE
spellingShingle ECONOMIC INCLUSION
SAFETY NETS
ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES
SOCIAL PROTECTION
CASH TRANSFERS
PUBLIC WORKS
LIVELIHOODS
JOB CREATION PROGRAM
FINANCIAL INCLUSION
WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT
IMPACT EVIDENCE
COST EVIDENCE
Paul, Boban Varghese
Dutta, Puja Vasudeva
Chaudhary, Sarang
Assessing the Impact and Cost of Economic Inclusion Programs : A Synthesis of Evidence
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9536
description This paper analyzes global evidence on the impact and costs of economic inclusion programs to transform the economic lives of households and communities living in extreme poverty. The analysis uses 107 quantitative and qualitative impact evaluations from 80 economic inclusion programs. Additionally, the paper presents analysis of costing data from 34 programs, surveyed using a newly developed PEI Quick Costing Tool 2020. The programs represent a range of sectors, geographies, contexts, and target populations; were both nongovernmental organization- and government-led; and represent programs implemented through social safety nets, livelihoods and jobs, and financial inclusion. Despite the challenges of the small number of studies available and limited comparability of impact and cost data, the findings indicate that a broad range of economic inclusion programs show promising and potentially sustained impact on a wide range of outcomes, with a bundled set of interventions showing larger impact on income, assets, and savings relative to stand-alone interventions. In many cases, the overall cost of economic inclusion programs is largely driven by a single component -- most frequently, business capital or consumption support. In its discussion, the paper explores drivers of impact and cost optimization strategies, preparing a preliminary understanding of cost-effectiveness of economic inclusion programs. The paper also identifies key areas for further research, including the need to shift the discussion on program impact from stand-alone, nonprofit-led programs to government-led programs; the opportunity to use a more systematic evidence base with comparable impact and cost outcomes and indicators; and prospects for using data, including disaggregated cost data, to inform policy and programming decisions more intentionally.
format Working Paper
author Paul, Boban Varghese
Dutta, Puja Vasudeva
Chaudhary, Sarang
author_facet Paul, Boban Varghese
Dutta, Puja Vasudeva
Chaudhary, Sarang
author_sort Paul, Boban Varghese
title Assessing the Impact and Cost of Economic Inclusion Programs : A Synthesis of Evidence
title_short Assessing the Impact and Cost of Economic Inclusion Programs : A Synthesis of Evidence
title_full Assessing the Impact and Cost of Economic Inclusion Programs : A Synthesis of Evidence
title_fullStr Assessing the Impact and Cost of Economic Inclusion Programs : A Synthesis of Evidence
title_full_unstemmed Assessing the Impact and Cost of Economic Inclusion Programs : A Synthesis of Evidence
title_sort assessing the impact and cost of economic inclusion programs : a synthesis of evidence
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2021
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/471531612369491284/Assessing-the-Impact-and-Cost-of-Economic-Inclusion-Programs-A-Synthesis-of-Evidence
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35109
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