While Government and NGOs in Bangladesh have undertaken many interventions designed to help households escape poverty, little is known about their long-term impact. Using a new longitudinal data set spanning 12 years and more than 1800 households, this project will investigate the long-term impact of three anti-poverty interventions—microfinance, agricultural technology, and educational transfers—on several measures of well-being and compare their cost-effectiveness.
Specifically, it will investigate: (1) the long-term impacts of each of the interventions on per capita consumption, gender disaggregated measures of monetary and non-monetary well-being, and physical and human capital accumulation; (2) the underlying processes, at the household, community, and national levels, that have contributed to the success or failure of these interventions; and (3) the cost-effectiveness of the three interventions.
Both quantitative and qualitative techniques will be used. The main quantitative techniques include matching beneficiaries to comparable nonbeneficiaries and panel data regression analysis, while the main qualitative technique will involve analysis of the focus group discussions and life histories that have been collected as part of the ongoing longitudinal study.
The user engagement strategy aims to stimulate a policy dialogue among key stakeholders inside Bangladesh and contribute to the design of future anti-poverty interventions.
Int Food Policy Research Inst
Agnes Reynes Quisumbing