As implicações da racionalidade limitada na elaboração de políticas compensatórias de combate à pobreza: uma análise do Programa Bolsa Família

This paper discusses the implications of assuming agents with bounded rationality over the design of public policies towards eradicating poverty, and uses the insights to study the case of the Brazilian program Bolsa Familia. The initial assumption is that the person receiving the benefits of the program knows best about how to use the income to satisfy his or her needs. This, however, cannot imply that an optimal solution is reached. Individuals, especially those on very low income levels, can improve their decisions by having access to more and better information they cannot afford and by improving their decision-making capabilities towards better income alternatives brought about by their own efforts. The argument implicates that the design and implementation of programs towards reducing poverty, like Bolsa Família, need re-thinking in terms of their social efficiency.