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dc.titleShooting a Moving Target: Choosing Targeting Tools for Social Programs
dc.contributor.authorBeuermann, Diether
dc.contributor.authorHoffmann, Bridget
dc.contributor.authorStampini, Marco
dc.contributor.authorVargas, David
dc.contributor.authorVera-Cossio, Diego A.
dc.contributor.orgunitDepartment of Research and Chief Economist
dc.coverageColombia
dc.date.available2024-01-12T00:01:00
dc.date.issue2024-01-12T00:01:00
dc.description.abstractA key challenge for policymakers is how to design methods to select beneficiaries of social programs when income is volatile and the target population is dynamic. We evaluate a traditional static proxy-means test (PMT) and three policy-relevant alternatives. We use a unique panel dataset of a random sample of households in Colombia's social registry that contains information before, during, and after the 2020 economic crisis. Updating the PMT data does not improve social welfare relative to the static PMT. Relaxing the eligibility threshold reduces the exclusion error, increases the inclusion error, and increases social welfare. A dynamic method that uses data on shocks to estimate a variable component of income reduces exclusion errors and limits the expansion in coverage, increasing social welfare during the economic crisis. We consider these targeting metrics together with the curvature of governments social welfare function and budgetary and political constraints.
dc.format.extent56
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0005502
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/Shooting-a-Moving-Target-Choosing-Targeting-Tools-for-Social-Programs.pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherInter-American Development Bank
dc.subjectPolicy Making
dc.subjectSocial Welfare
dc.subjectExtreme Poverty
dc.subjectSocial Protection
dc.subjectDiversity and Inclusion
dc.subjectBudget
dc.subjectLabor Market
dc.subjectSocial Safety Net
dc.subjectPoverty
dc.subjectExternal Shock
dc.subject.jelcodeI38 - Government Policy • Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
dc.subject.jelcodeD31 - Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
dc.subject.jelcodeD63 - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
dc.subject.keywordsSocial protection;Household income;Poverty
idb.identifier.pubnumberIDB-WP-01559
idb.operationRG-K1415
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