Precipitated by rapid globalization, rising inequality, population growth, and longevity gains, social protection programs have been on the rise in developing countries in the last three decades. However, the introduction of public benefits could displace informal mechanisms for risk-protection,...

Precipitated by rapid globalization, rising inequality, population growth, and longevity gains, social protection programs have been on the rise in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in the last three decades. However, the introduction of public benefits could displace informal mechanisms...

Precipitated by rapid globalization, rising inequality, population growth, and longevity gains, social protection programs have been on the rise in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in the last three decades. However, the introduction of public benefits could displace informal mechanisms...

This paper explores four different rationales for incorporating a concern for the natural environment into the practice of microfinance. A binomial descriptive content analysis investigates the incidence of this so-called ‘green microfinance' in a sample of forty microfinance institutions...

Welfare-to-work measures are a central theme of Israel’s labour and social policies to tackle relative poverty, which is concentrated among the Arab-Israeli and Ultra-orthodox (Haredi) communities. Policies include pilot programmes involving private-sector job placement (the “Wisconsin”...

Botswana's welfare state is both a parsimonious laggard in comparison with some other middle-income countries in Africa (such as Mauritius and South Africa) and extensive (in comparison with its low-income neighbours to the north and east). Coverage is broad but cash transfers are modest. This...

This paper explores the role of basic pensions in reducing poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. Using the most recent Senegalese household income-expenditure data survey, we set up scenarios of universal and means-tested basic pension schemes with different generosity levels. Simulations suggest that...

The Benefício de Prestação Continuada (BPC) program is a non‐contributory pension addressed to poor elders over 65 years‐old. This paper evaluates its effects on household composition and on labor market outcomes of the elders and their co‐residing relatives. We could not capture any...

In the last two decades, free markets have swept the globe, bringing with them enormous potential for positive change. But traditional capitalism cannot solve problems like inequality and poverty, because it is hampered by a narrow view of human nature in which people are one-dimensional beings...

This paper studies the pro-poor growth in the Latino American Andean countries. We first present different definitions of pro-poorness and the related methods in order to generate the statistically robust results for classes of pro-poor measures. Also, we present the non anonymous pro-poor...