Effectiveness of Targeting Mechanisms Utilized in Social Protection Programs in Bolivia

As part of the 2006-2011 National
Development Plan, the Plurinational State of Bolivia
launched two cash transfer programs and one youth labor
training program aimed at promoting the accumulation of
households’ human capital: the Juancito Pinto Educational
Grant, the Juana Azurduy Mother-Child Grant, and my first
decent job. The objective of this paper is to analyze the
effectiveness of the targeting mechanisms utilized in these
programs. Based on the information provided by the Ongoing
Household Survey, we estimate the mechanisms’ potential
inclusion and exclusion errors. The results permit us to
suggest that the categorical selection mechanisms used in
the three programs are effective in reaching the poorest
population, although they present distinct levels of
inclusion and exclusion errors associated with both the
design and implementation problems of the particular
mechanism utilized.