Poverty Targeting in Asia
John Weiss
Edward Elgar Publishing
`This book is a "must read" for researchers and students   interested in poverty, poverty reduction, social welfare and development.   It provides systematic and comparative studies on the design features,   achievements and problems of targeting, set against specific national   contexts. The economic focus of the analysis is balanced with sections on   the political economy of targeting and management aspects (administrative   systems and incentives). While the considerable variations between   targeting mechanisms, schemes and contexts demonstrate the difficulties of   blanket policy prescriptions, the book presents a fascinating conclusion.   Rather than continuing the debate about universal versus targeted   approaches, it proposes that a mixed approach might be best: the "broad"   targeting of basic services such as primary education and health care   combined with the "narrow" targeting of social protection schemes for the   very poor.'  - David Hulme, University of Manchester, UK    Most governments attempt to target resources directly at the poor   through a variety of measures including food and credit subsidies, job   creation schemes and basic health and education projects. These measures   are usually classified as being either promotional (to help raise welfare   in the long term), or protectional (to support the poor in times of adverse   shocks). However, for many Asian countries the reality of these poverty   targeting measures has proved disappointing.      Following a comprehensive overview by the editor, this book offers a   detailed assessment of the results of directly channelling resources to the   poor and extensively discusses the experience of five Asian countries -   India, Indonesia, the People's Republic of China, the Philippines and   Thailand. The authors demonstrate how in many cases these targeting   measures have failed due to their high cost and errors of both   undercoverage (where many of the poor are excluded) and leakage (when many   of the better-off also benefit from these schemes). The authors conclude   that whilst poverty targeting remains a critically important objective,   past targeting errors must not be forgotten and improved methods of both   identifying and reaching the poor must be implemented.     Written by leading experts in the field and including analysis of   original country surveys, this seminal text documents clearly the operation   and success of aid schemes in Asia. This book will make a worthy addition   to the literature on development, poverty reduction, social welfare and   Asian studies. It will also be an important source of reference for   academics and students of economic development, aid practitioners,   government officials and development NGOs.