Public work programs: what are the income gains to the poor?

:a 'D= r- w- - ; - - - - : - - _ 1 7 C 4 1 ( o pgjs, >- 7-W Fsz ~N==~-=. ______S:: A joint publication by the Development Research Group and the Poverty Reducton Group of the World Bank No. 9 November 1997 Public Works Programs: - e-dsge Whlat are the Income Gains pic works to the Poor? pr c .s..elf-argeted to'i the woub kc o programs have been a Opportunity Costs p o a can 1 popular policy i nt for pov- t a =eny aleviaio in developing Wa cvt ospbcwrsen -v e-... .zo. .- cournes. What do the poor gain mn tm p e d e? If it s p n n gains of icorm fm such progams? A World unemployment then te opportunity Bank study takes a fresh look at ths issue (forgone nome) of participaton in scha- examining how households respond to scheme will be regligible. However, pub- - - -p employmrt pporunities provided by lc works employment may displace public w ois p 1i, woikers fiom rher income-earing oppor- Thestudy draws onhouseholddatafor uites, such as altemative sources of reallocated from own-nim activities. The the villages of Shirapur and Kanzara i the wage labor or own-frm acvites he ovelall level of EGS employment was also state of MAaharashtra, ndia, where publc eanings that would have been associated lower i KanZra, consise wit rela- works employment is available under the hes,e displaced actvites represent e tively higher average mcomie levels in the state's "eniployment Guarlanee Scheme Pecuiw opportuity cost of publc village; however, given the patten of dis- (EGS). An explicit aim of this scheme is works employment. is the at3 ated ogpportunity cost to alleviate rural povertv through income The results of the study suggest that he her, at 32ofgross EGS eaing gains to all tcipateig workers. The EGS C7oppo