Published in Whittier Law Review, v.28, 2006

Numerous national transfer programs around the world are designed with uniform benefit schedules imposed by central governments, but implemented by local governments. The Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) in Ethiopia, the second largest safety net in Sub Saharan Africa, is one such program....

Developing accurate, yet operational poverty assessment tools to target the poorest households remains a challenge for applied policy research. This paper aims to develop poverty assessment tools for four countries: Bangladesh, Peru, Uganda, and Kazakhstan. The research applies the Principal...

As part of its food security policy, South Korea has been pursuing food self-sufficiency using high tariffs and high administrative prices in key agricultural and food markets. Using a dual approach to trade and trade restrictiveness indices, we analyze the impact of these market distortions on...

The 1998 flood in Bangladesh caused a shortfall of 2.2 million tonnes (mill.t) in the rice production and threatened the food security of tens of millions of households. Despite the best efforts of donors and the government, the public distribution ofrice and wheat was only 188,000t more than...

As part of its food security policy, South Korea has been pursuing food self-sufficiency using high tariffs and high administrative prices in key agricultural and food markets. Using a dual approach to trade and trade restrictiveness indices, we analyze the impact of these market distortions on...

Many development projects seek to reach the poorest in the provision of agricultural inputs, extension, credit, education, and many other services. However, low-cost and reliable methods for assessing whether a project reaches the poor are lacking at present. In this paper, we present an...