2005年-世界发展银行全球_How_Fair_is_Workfare__Gender_Public_Works_and_Employment_in_Rural_Ethiopia_67页_401kb

Summary of "HOW FAIR IS WORKFARE?" by Agnes R. Quisumbing and Yisehac Yohannes

Core Content

This paper examines the gender dimensions of public works and food aid in rural Ethiopia, using data from the Ethiopian Rural Household Survey (ERHS). It evaluates how public works programs, particularly food-for-work (FFW), affect men and women differently in terms of participation, earnings, and the effectiveness of targeting mechanisms. The study also explores the broader impact of these programs on household welfare, consumption smoothing, and child nutrition.

Main Points

1. Public Works and Food Aid in Ethiopia

• Public Works Overview: Public works, or workfare, are short-term employment programs that provide low wages for unskilled and semi-skilled labor. In Ethiopia, these programs are primarily focused on labor-intensive projects such as road construction, irrigation, reforestation, and soil conservation.
• Food Aid Types: Ethiopia has two main types of food aid: Food-for-Work (FFW) and Free Food Distribution (FD). FFW requires labor in exchange for food, while FD provides food directly to households without a work requirement.
• Program Distribution: FFW is implemented in vulnerable woredas, particularly in the regions of Tigray, Amhara, Oromiya, and SNNPR, which together make up over 80% of the country. The program has been sustained over a long period and involves both government and World Food Programme (WFP) funding.
• Employment Generation Schemes (EGS): EGS, introduced in 1993, has also been a major public works program. However, due to lack of non-food budgetary support, it often degenerates into free food distribution. EGS has lower wage rates and is less coordinated than FFW.

2. Targeting and Effectiveness of Food Aid

• Targeting Mechanisms: Food aid is targeted using three methods: administrative targeting (based on asset ownership, age, gender, etc.), self-targeting (using wages below market rates and "inferior" goods), and community-based targeting (based on local decisions).
• Spatial Rigidity: Despite the policy intention to target the poorest regions, food aid allocations often show spatial rigidity, meaning they are not always concentrated in the most vulnerable areas.
• Payment Issues: Payment delays and inconsistent wage levels (often below the stipulated 15 kg of food per person per month) are more problematic than targeting. Participants often sell food rations for other goods, incurring transaction costs.
• Consumption Smoothing: Food aid helps households smooth consumption during negative income shocks, especially through intra-village risk sharing. It also has positive nutritional impacts, particularly on children aged 6–24 months.

3. Gender Dimensions of Public Works

• Gender Differences in Participation: Women are less likely to participate in wage labor and FFW compared to men. However, better-educated women are more likely to participate in both wage labor and FFW.
• Impact of Livestock and Assets: Higher livestock holdings reduce women's participation in wage labor, while men's participation is more influenced by household and community shocks.
• Inequalities in Earnings: Women tend to earn less than men in FFW programs, and their participation is more affected by distance to work sites.
• Bargaining Power: The presence of public employment schemes can enhance women's bargaining power within the household, but this is not always reflected in their participation or earnings.
• Unconclusive Results: The study finds no significant differences in participation between men and women in FFW and FD, but suggests that households may allocate resources differently based on the type of food aid received, with FD having a greater impact on girls' nutrition than FFW on boys'.

4. Methodology and Data

• Data Sources: The paper uses three data sets from the Ethiopian Rural Household Survey (ERHS), conducted between 1994 and 2003.
• Modules:
  • The off-farm and business activities module collects data on participation in wage labor, self-employment, and FFW.
  • The 1997 public works module includes new questions designed to examine intrahousehold allocation and the reasons for participation.
  • Program data from key informant interviews in 2003 is used to assess the effectiveness of public works in different regions.
• Empirical Specification: The study uses a utility-maximizing model to analyze how households allocate time and resources across different activities, including work and leisure, and how program characteristics influence participation and earnings.

Key Findings

• FFW and EGS: FFW is more coordinated and involves greater government participation, while EGS often fails to meet its work requirement due to lack of budgetary support.
• Gender and Participation: Gender differences in participation are significant, with women facing more barriers to entering labor markets. However, after controlling for selection, gender disadvantages in the labor market and FFW are not statistically significant.
• Returns to Human Capital: Education and height have positive returns in both wage labor and FFW, indicating the importance of human capital in rural labor markets.
• Program Features: The type of project, distance to work sites, and payment methods significantly affect participation. FFW is more likely to be used for infrastructure development, while other projects may reduce participation probabilities.
• Policy Implications: The study highlights the need for gender-sensitive program design to ensure that women benefit equally from public works. It also suggests that payment timeliness and consistency are critical to the effectiveness of these programs.

Conclusion

The paper concludes that while public works programs have played a crucial role in Ethiopia's safety net system, they are not equally accessible or beneficial to men and women. Gender disparities in labor market participation and earnings persist, and program design plays a key role in shaping these outcomes. To improve the effectiveness of public works, policies must address gender-specific constraints, payment mechanisms, and targeting strategies.