This paper contributes to the long-standing debate on the merits of decentralized beneficiary targeting in the administration of development programs, focusing on the large-scale Malawi Farm Input Subsidy Program. Nationally-representative household survey data are used to systematically analyze...

Using administrative data from the urban Mexican Oportunidades program, this paper analyzes why poor households choose less education for their children, even when offered financial compensation for school attendance. Each school year, half of recipients forgo income for which they are eligible...

Effective use of foreign aid for poverty alleviation requires optimally allocatiing aid among three components: promotion of economic growth, direct targeting of the poor and safety nets and transfers. This paper analyses the allocation of foreign aid to Viet Nam by examining the poverty...