Poverty alleviation strategies under informality: evidence for Latin America

Strategies based on growth and inequality reduction require a long-run horizon, and this paper therefore argues that those strategies need to be complemented by poverty alleviation programs. With regards to such programs, informality in Latin America and the Caribbean is a primary obstacle to carry...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Caruso Bloeck, Martín, Galiani, Sebastián, Weinschelbaum, Federico
Formato: Articulo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2018
Materias:
Ciencias Económicas
Poverty
Inequality
Means testing
Proxy means testing
Latin America and the Caribbean
Acceso en línea:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/125854
Aporte de:
SEDICI (UNLP) de Universidad Nacional de La Plata
id I19-R120-10915-125854
record_format dspace
institution Universidad Nacional de La Plata
institution_str I-19
repository_str R-120
collection SEDICI (UNLP)
language Inglés
topic Ciencias Económicas
Poverty
Inequality
Means testing
Proxy means testing
Latin America and the Caribbean
spellingShingle Ciencias Económicas
Poverty
Inequality
Means testing
Proxy means testing
Latin America and the Caribbean
Caruso Bloeck, Martín
Galiani, Sebastián
Weinschelbaum, Federico
Poverty alleviation strategies under informality: evidence for Latin America
topic_facet Ciencias Económicas
Poverty
Inequality
Means testing
Proxy means testing
Latin America and the Caribbean
description Strategies based on growth and inequality reduction require a long-run horizon, and this paper therefore argues that those strategies need to be complemented by poverty alleviation programs. With regards to such programs, informality in Latin America and the Caribbean is a primary obstacle to carry out means testing income-support programs, and countries in the region have therefore mostly relied on proxy means testing mechanisms. This paper studies the relative effectiveness of these and other mechanisms by way of a formal model in which workers choose between job opportunities in the formal and informal sectors. Although the means testing mechanism allows for a more pro-poor design of transfers, it distorts labor decisions made by workers. On the other hand, (exogenous) proxy means testing does not cause distortions, but its pro-poor quality is constrained by the power of observable characteristics to infer income levels. However, since taxation is necessary to fund programs, redistribution becomes less effective, especially for programs other than means testing. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of these results for the design of more efficient targeting programs.
format Articulo
Articulo
author Caruso Bloeck, Martín
Galiani, Sebastián
Weinschelbaum, Federico
author_facet Caruso Bloeck, Martín
Galiani, Sebastián
Weinschelbaum, Federico
author_sort Caruso Bloeck, Martín
title Poverty alleviation strategies under informality: evidence for Latin America
title_short Poverty alleviation strategies under informality: evidence for Latin America
title_full Poverty alleviation strategies under informality: evidence for Latin America
title_fullStr Poverty alleviation strategies under informality: evidence for Latin America
title_full_unstemmed Poverty alleviation strategies under informality: evidence for Latin America
title_sort poverty alleviation strategies under informality: evidence for latin america
publishDate 2018
url http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/125854
work_keys_str_mv AT carusobloeckmartin povertyalleviationstrategiesunderinformalityevidenceforlatinamerica
AT galianisebastian povertyalleviationstrategiesunderinformalityevidenceforlatinamerica
AT weinschelbaumfederico povertyalleviationstrategiesunderinformalityevidenceforlatinamerica
bdutipo_str Repositorios
_version_ 1764820452370284547

Ejemplares similares