TY - JOUR
T1 - A good mix against ultra‐poverty? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) in Bangladesh
AU - Rahman, Atiya
AU - Bhattacharjee, Anindita
AU - Das, Narayan
N1 - Funding information: UK’s Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) of the Australian Government, and BRAC—the donors of the Ultra-Poor Graduation Program—through the FCDO-DFAT-BRAC Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA)
PY - 2021/11
Y1 - 2021/11
N2 - Existing evidence shows that programs that provide grants to productive assets along with training to very poor women increase labor supply, earnings, and consumption. In contrast, evidence on the effect of microcredit on these outcomes is mixed. In this paper, we examine the effect of a hybrid of the two approaches—credit and grant—on the livelihoods of the ultra-poor in Bangladesh. A randomized evaluation of the hybrid intervention shows that it increases labor supply of working-age women, household income, productive assets, savings, and consumption expenditures. The benefit–cost ratio of the intervention is estimated to be 8.47.
AB - Existing evidence shows that programs that provide grants to productive assets along with training to very poor women increase labor supply, earnings, and consumption. In contrast, evidence on the effect of microcredit on these outcomes is mixed. In this paper, we examine the effect of a hybrid of the two approaches—credit and grant—on the livelihoods of the ultra-poor in Bangladesh. A randomized evaluation of the hybrid intervention shows that it increases labor supply of working-age women, household income, productive assets, savings, and consumption expenditures. The benefit–cost ratio of the intervention is estimated to be 8.47.
UR - https://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12809
U2 - 10.1111/rode.12809
DO - 10.1111/rode.12809
M3 - Article
VL - 25
SP - 2052
EP - 2083
JO - Review of Development Economics
JF - Review of Development Economics
SN - 1363-6669
IS - 4
ER -
