Social Assistance and Poverty Reduction in Moldova, 2001-2004 : An Impact Evaluation

This paper assesses the impact of social assistance benefits on household welfare in Moldova. Ignoring standard issues of impact evaluations such as selection bias, behavioral responses, unobserved heterogeneity and endogeneity, an incidence analys...

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Main Author:	Verme, Paolo
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:	AVERAGE BENEFIT AVERAGE BENEFITS BEHAVIORAL EFFECTS BENEFICIARIES BENEFICIARY BENEFITS INCIDENCE BENEFITS SCHEME CASH BENEFITS CENTRALLY PLANNED ECONOMIES CHILD ALLOWANCES CHILD BENEFITS COMPARATIVE ECONOMICS CONTRIBUTION CONTRIBUTIONS COUNTERFACTUAL DEBT DEFLATORS DISABILITY ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT ECONOMIC SITUATION EQUATIONS EXPECTED VALUE FAMILY ALLOWANCES FINANCIAL CRISIS FINANCIAL RESOURCES FOOD ITEMS GDP GROWTH RATE HOUSEHOLD BUDGET HOUSEHOLD HEAD HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HOUSEHOLD WELFARE HUMAN RESOURCES IMPACT ON POVERTY INCIDENCE ANALYSIS INCOME INEQUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE REHABILITATION INSURANCE SCHEMES LABOR MARKET LABOR SUPPLY LIVING CONDITIONS LIVING STANDARDS MACROECONOMIC SHOCKS MARKET CONDITIONS MARKET ECONOMY MEANS TESTS MEDIUM TERM EXPENDITURE FRAMEWORK NUMBER OF CHILDREN OLD AGE PENSION PENSION FUNDS PENSIONS POOR POOR HOUSEHOLDS POOR PEOPLE POVERTY HEADCOUNT INDEX POVERTY IMPACT POVERTY INCIDENCE POVERTY LEVEL POVERTY LINE POVERTY RATE POVERTY REDUCTION POVERTY STATUS PRIMARY EDUCATION PROBABILITIES PROBABILITY PROTECTION SYSTEM PUBLIC ECONOMICS PUBLIC EXPENDITURE PUBLIC SAFETY NET PUBLIC SPENDING PUBLIC TRANSFERS PURCHASING POWER RECESSION RECESSIONS REGRESSION ANALYSES RURAL RURAL AREAS SECONDARY EDUCATION SELECTION CRITERIA SOCIAL ALLOWANCES SOCIAL ASSISTANCE SOCIAL BENEFITS SOCIAL INSURANCE SOCIAL PROGRAM SOCIAL PROTECTION SOCIAL SAFETY NET SOCIAL TRANSFERS SOCIAL WELFARE TARGETING TRANSITIONAL ECONOMIES UNEMPLOYMENT UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS WAR WEALTH WELFARE BENEFITS WORK INJURY WORKFARE
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/06/9620022/social-assistance-poverty-reduction-moldova-2001-2004-impact-evaluationbr-social-assistance-poverty-reduction-moldova-2001-2004-impact-evaluation http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6861

id	okr-10986-6861
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-68612021-04-23T14:02:32Z Social Assistance and Poverty Reduction in Moldova, 2001-2004 : An Impact Evaluation Verme, Paolo AVERAGE BENEFIT AVERAGE BENEFITS BEHAVIORAL EFFECTS BENEFICIARIES BENEFICIARY BENEFITS INCIDENCE BENEFITS SCHEME CASH BENEFITS CENTRALLY PLANNED ECONOMIES CHILD ALLOWANCES CHILD BENEFITS COMPARATIVE ECONOMICS CONTRIBUTION CONTRIBUTIONS COUNTERFACTUAL DEBT DEFLATORS DISABILITY ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT ECONOMIC SITUATION EQUATIONS EXPECTED VALUE FAMILY ALLOWANCES FINANCIAL CRISIS FINANCIAL RESOURCES FOOD ITEMS GDP GROWTH RATE HOUSEHOLD BUDGET HOUSEHOLD HEAD HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HOUSEHOLD WELFARE HUMAN RESOURCES IMPACT ON POVERTY INCIDENCE ANALYSIS INCOME INEQUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE REHABILITATION INSURANCE SCHEMES LABOR MARKET LABOR SUPPLY LIVING CONDITIONS LIVING STANDARDS MACROECONOMIC SHOCKS MARKET CONDITIONS MARKET ECONOMY MEANS TESTS MEDIUM TERM EXPENDITURE FRAMEWORK NUMBER OF CHILDREN OLD AGE PENSION PENSION FUNDS PENSIONS POOR POOR HOUSEHOLDS POOR PEOPLE POVERTY HEADCOUNT INDEX POVERTY IMPACT POVERTY INCIDENCE POVERTY LEVEL POVERTY LINE POVERTY RATE POVERTY REDUCTION POVERTY STATUS PRIMARY EDUCATION PROBABILITIES PROBABILITY PROTECTION SYSTEM PUBLIC ECONOMICS PUBLIC EXPENDITURE PUBLIC SAFETY NET PUBLIC SPENDING PUBLIC TRANSFERS PURCHASING POWER RECESSION RECESSIONS REGRESSION ANALYSES RURAL RURAL AREAS SECONDARY EDUCATION SELECTION CRITERIA SOCIAL ALLOWANCES SOCIAL ASSISTANCE SOCIAL BENEFITS SOCIAL INSURANCE SOCIAL PROGRAM SOCIAL PROTECTION SOCIAL SAFETY NET SOCIAL TRANSFERS SOCIAL WELFARE TARGETING TRANSITIONAL ECONOMIES UNEMPLOYMENT UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS WAR WEALTH WELFARE BENEFITS WORK INJURY WORKFARE This paper assesses the impact of social assistance benefits on household welfare in Moldova. Ignoring standard issues of impact evaluations such as selection bias, behavioral responses, unobserved heterogeneity and endogeneity, an incidence analysis suggests that increased spending on social assistance enhances the probability of moving out of poverty and reduces the probability of moving into poverty. However, double difference estimates (based on a mimicked randomized experiment) and parametric estimates (based on panel data) indicate that social benefits have not contributed to improve household welfare or reduce poverty. Double difference estimates point to a negative impact on welfare. Parametric estimates do not yield any consistent significant impact on welfare or poverty. The author concludes that the growth in population coverage and expenditure on cash benefits that characterized social assistance policies in recent years has not resulted in a significant improvement in welfare, all other factors being equal. 2012-06-01T15:44:30Z 2012-06-01T15:44:30Z 2008-06 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/06/9620022/social-assistance-poverty-reduction-moldova-2001-2004-impact-evaluationbr-social-assistance-poverty-reduction-moldova-2001-2004-impact-evaluation http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6861 English Policy Research Working Paper No. 4658 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research Europe and Central Asia Moldova
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	AVERAGE BENEFIT AVERAGE BENEFITS BEHAVIORAL EFFECTS BENEFICIARIES BENEFICIARY BENEFITS INCIDENCE BENEFITS SCHEME CASH BENEFITS CENTRALLY PLANNED ECONOMIES CHILD ALLOWANCES CHILD BENEFITS COMPARATIVE ECONOMICS CONTRIBUTION CONTRIBUTIONS COUNTERFACTUAL DEBT DEFLATORS DISABILITY ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT ECONOMIC SITUATION EQUATIONS EXPECTED VALUE FAMILY ALLOWANCES FINANCIAL CRISIS FINANCIAL RESOURCES FOOD ITEMS GDP GROWTH RATE HOUSEHOLD BUDGET HOUSEHOLD HEAD HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HOUSEHOLD WELFARE HUMAN RESOURCES IMPACT ON POVERTY INCIDENCE ANALYSIS INCOME INEQUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE REHABILITATION INSURANCE SCHEMES LABOR MARKET LABOR SUPPLY LIVING CONDITIONS LIVING STANDARDS MACROECONOMIC SHOCKS MARKET CONDITIONS MARKET ECONOMY MEANS TESTS MEDIUM TERM EXPENDITURE FRAMEWORK NUMBER OF CHILDREN OLD AGE PENSION PENSION FUNDS PENSIONS POOR POOR HOUSEHOLDS POOR PEOPLE POVERTY HEADCOUNT INDEX POVERTY IMPACT POVERTY INCIDENCE POVERTY LEVEL POVERTY LINE POVERTY RATE POVERTY REDUCTION POVERTY STATUS PRIMARY EDUCATION PROBABILITIES PROBABILITY PROTECTION SYSTEM PUBLIC ECONOMICS PUBLIC EXPENDITURE PUBLIC SAFETY NET PUBLIC SPENDING PUBLIC TRANSFERS PURCHASING POWER RECESSION RECESSIONS REGRESSION ANALYSES RURAL RURAL AREAS SECONDARY EDUCATION SELECTION CRITERIA SOCIAL ALLOWANCES SOCIAL ASSISTANCE SOCIAL BENEFITS SOCIAL INSURANCE SOCIAL PROGRAM SOCIAL PROTECTION SOCIAL SAFETY NET SOCIAL TRANSFERS SOCIAL WELFARE TARGETING TRANSITIONAL ECONOMIES UNEMPLOYMENT UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS WAR WEALTH WELFARE BENEFITS WORK INJURY WORKFARE
spellingShingle	AVERAGE BENEFIT AVERAGE BENEFITS BEHAVIORAL EFFECTS BENEFICIARIES BENEFICIARY BENEFITS INCIDENCE BENEFITS SCHEME CASH BENEFITS CENTRALLY PLANNED ECONOMIES CHILD ALLOWANCES CHILD BENEFITS COMPARATIVE ECONOMICS CONTRIBUTION CONTRIBUTIONS COUNTERFACTUAL DEBT DEFLATORS DISABILITY ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT ECONOMIC SITUATION EQUATIONS EXPECTED VALUE FAMILY ALLOWANCES FINANCIAL CRISIS FINANCIAL RESOURCES FOOD ITEMS GDP GROWTH RATE HOUSEHOLD BUDGET HOUSEHOLD HEAD HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HOUSEHOLD WELFARE HUMAN RESOURCES IMPACT ON POVERTY INCIDENCE ANALYSIS INCOME INEQUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE REHABILITATION INSURANCE SCHEMES LABOR MARKET LABOR SUPPLY LIVING CONDITIONS LIVING STANDARDS MACROECONOMIC SHOCKS MARKET CONDITIONS MARKET ECONOMY MEANS TESTS MEDIUM TERM EXPENDITURE FRAMEWORK NUMBER OF CHILDREN OLD AGE PENSION PENSION FUNDS PENSIONS POOR POOR HOUSEHOLDS POOR PEOPLE POVERTY HEADCOUNT INDEX POVERTY IMPACT POVERTY INCIDENCE POVERTY LEVEL POVERTY LINE POVERTY RATE POVERTY REDUCTION POVERTY STATUS PRIMARY EDUCATION PROBABILITIES PROBABILITY PROTECTION SYSTEM PUBLIC ECONOMICS PUBLIC EXPENDITURE PUBLIC SAFETY NET PUBLIC SPENDING PUBLIC TRANSFERS PURCHASING POWER RECESSION RECESSIONS REGRESSION ANALYSES RURAL RURAL AREAS SECONDARY EDUCATION SELECTION CRITERIA SOCIAL ALLOWANCES SOCIAL ASSISTANCE SOCIAL BENEFITS SOCIAL INSURANCE SOCIAL PROGRAM SOCIAL PROTECTION SOCIAL SAFETY NET SOCIAL TRANSFERS SOCIAL WELFARE TARGETING TRANSITIONAL ECONOMIES UNEMPLOYMENT UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS WAR WEALTH WELFARE BENEFITS WORK INJURY WORKFARE Verme, Paolo Social Assistance and Poverty Reduction in Moldova, 2001-2004 : An Impact Evaluation
geographic_facet	Europe and Central Asia Moldova
relation	Policy Research Working Paper No. 4658
description	This paper assesses the impact of social assistance benefits on household welfare in Moldova. Ignoring standard issues of impact evaluations such as selection bias, behavioral responses, unobserved heterogeneity and endogeneity, an incidence analysis suggests that increased spending on social assistance enhances the probability of moving out of poverty and reduces the probability of moving into poverty. However, double difference estimates (based on a mimicked randomized experiment) and parametric estimates (based on panel data) indicate that social benefits have not contributed to improve household welfare or reduce poverty. Double difference estimates point to a negative impact on welfare. Parametric estimates do not yield any consistent significant impact on welfare or poverty. The author concludes that the growth in population coverage and expenditure on cash benefits that characterized social assistance policies in recent years has not resulted in a significant improvement in welfare, all other factors being equal.
format	Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
author	Verme, Paolo
author_facet	Verme, Paolo
author_sort	Verme, Paolo
title	Social Assistance and Poverty Reduction in Moldova, 2001-2004 : An Impact Evaluation
title_short	Social Assistance and Poverty Reduction in Moldova, 2001-2004 : An Impact Evaluation
title_full	Social Assistance and Poverty Reduction in Moldova, 2001-2004 : An Impact Evaluation
title_fullStr	Social Assistance and Poverty Reduction in Moldova, 2001-2004 : An Impact Evaluation
title_full_unstemmed	Social Assistance and Poverty Reduction in Moldova, 2001-2004 : An Impact Evaluation
title_sort	social assistance and poverty reduction in moldova, 2001-2004 : an impact evaluation
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2012
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/06/9620022/social-assistance-poverty-reduction-moldova-2001-2004-impact-evaluationbr-social-assistance-poverty-reduction-moldova-2001-2004-impact-evaluation http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6861
_version_	1764400997978865664

Social Assistance and Poverty Reduction in Moldova, 2001-2004 : An Impact Evaluation

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