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Self-Targeting: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Indonesia

Harvard Dataverse (Africa Rice Center, Bioversity International, CCAFS, CIAT, IFPRI, IRRI and WorldFish)

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Field Value
 
Title Self-Targeting: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Indonesia
 
Identifier https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/6ZUIUC
 
Creator Alatas, Vivi
Banerjee, Abhijit
Hanna, Rema
Olken, Benjamin
Purnamasari, Ririn
Wai-Poi, Matthew
 
Publisher Harvard Dataverse
 
Description This paper shows that adding a small application cost to transfer program can substantially improve targeting through self-selection. Our village-level experiment in Indonesia finds that requiring beneficiaries to apply for benefits results in substantially poorer beneficiaries than automatic enrollment using the same asset test. Marginally increasing application costs on an experimental basis does not further improve targeting. Estimating a model of the application decision implies that the results are largely driven by the nonpoor, who make up the bulk of the population, forecasting that they are unlikely to pass the asset test and therefore not bothering to apply.
 
Subject Social Sciences
 
Contributor Rubio, Karl