@article{30282a2f3c204ce69e8ca898158a4c3f,
title = "Targeting Ultra-Poor Households in Honduras and Peru",
abstract = "For policy purposes, it is important to understand the relative efficacy of various methods to target the poor. Recently, participatory methods have received particular attention. We examine the effectiveness of a hybrid two-step process that combines a participatory wealth ranking and a verification household survey, relative to two proxy means tests (the Progress out of Poverty Index and a housing index), in Honduras and Peru. The methods we examine perform similarly by various metrics. They all identify most accurately the poorest and the wealthiest households but perform with mixed results among households in the middle of the distribution. Ultimately, given similar performance, the analysis suggests that costs should be the driving consideration in choosing across methods.",
keywords = "participatory wealth rankings, poverty targeting, proxy means tests",
author = "Karlan, {Dean Spencer} and Bram Thuysbaert",
note = "Funding Information: Dean Karlan is a professor of economics at Yale University, Innovations for Poverty Action, and the M.I.T. Jameel Poverty Action Lab; his email address is dean.karlan@yale.edu. Bram Thuysbaert is a researcher with Yale University, Ghent University, and Innovations for Poverty Action; his email address is bram.thuysbaert@yale.edu. We thank the Ford Foundation for funding; PLAN International, PLAN-Honduras, ODEF Social, PLAN-Peru, and Asociaci{\'o}n Arariwa for collaboration on the underlying implementation; and CGAP for collaboration on the overall initiative. Authors retained full intellectual freedom throughout the study. We thank Jennifer Severski, Adam Kemmis Betty, Caton Brewster, Maria Dolores Sanchez Liste, Juan Manuel Hern{\'a}ndez-Agramonte, Edgar Salgado, Yann Guy, Andrew Hillis, Maria Dieci, and Nathanael Goldberg for project management, field support, and data analysis support. All errors and opinions are those of the authors. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 The Author. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / THE WORLD BANK.",
year = "2019",
month = feb,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1093/wber/lhw036",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "33",
pages = "63--94",
journal = "World Bank Economic Review",
issn = "0258-6770",
publisher = "Oxford University Press",
number = "1",
}