A multifaceted program causes lasting progress for the very poor: Evidence from six countries

作者:Banerjee, Abhijit; Duflo, Esther; Goldberg, Nathanael; Karlan, Dean*; Osei, Robert; Pariente, William; Shapiro, Jeremy; Thuy**aert, Bram; Udry, Christopher
来源:Science, 2015, 348(6236): 1260799.
DOI:10.1126/science.1260799

摘要

We present results from six randomized control trials of an integrated approach to improve livelihoods among the very poor. The approach combines the transfer of a productive asset with consumption support, training, and coaching plus savings encouragement and health education and/or services. Results from the implementation of the same basic program, adapted to a wide variety of geographic and institutional contexts and with multiple implementing partners, show statistically significant cost-effective impacts on consumption (fueled mostly by increases in self-employment income) and psychosocial status of the targeted households. The impact on the poor households lasted at least a year after all implementation ended. It is possible to make sustainable improvements in the economic status of the poor with a relatively short-term intervention.