Workfare schemes impose work requirements on beneficiaries. This has seemed an attractive idea for self …-targeting transfers to poor people. This incentive argument does not imply, however, that workfare is more cost-effective against poverty … than even poorly-targeted options, given hidden costs of participation. In particular, even poor workfare participants in a …

Prevailing practices in evaluating workfare programs have ignored the disutility of the type of work done, with …