The net benefits of CAFTA and their distribution among sectors of the economy and social groups are major concerns of policy makers in Central America. The objective of the Bank's support to Central America is to assist in the design of policies that maximize total net benefits while improving...

The purpose of this guideline is to discuss the objectives and approaches of regional (subnational) development programs in order to provide guidance on issues related to evaluating the impact of these programs. Regional development programs are designed to improve the income-generating capacity...

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...

Cash transfer programmes have become an important tool of social protection and poverty reduction strategies in low- and middle-income countries. In the past decade, a growing number of African governments have launched cash transfer programmes as part of their strategies of social protection....

The increasing volume of remittances and public transfers in rural areas of the developing world has raised hopes that these inflows may serve as an effective mechanism for reducing poverty in the long term by facilitating investments and raising productivity, particularly in agriculture where...

This paper explores whether cash transfer programmes conditioned on human capital outcomes can influence agricultural production. Programme impact on food consumption from own production, land use, livestock ownership, and agricultural spending are evaluated using first difference and weighted...

Summary This paper uses a newly constructed cross-country database composed of comparable income aggregates to examine the full range of income generating activities carried out by rural households. The analysis paints a clear picture of multiple activities across rural space in countries on all...

A household's decision to send migrants is based on information it has on the entry costs, expected returns, and risks of migration. Information and assistance flow from both family migrant networks and community migrant networks. Using data from a national survey of rural Mexican households, we...