Targeted Subsidy for Malaria Control With Treated Nets Using a Discount Voucher System in Tanzania.

During the last decade insecticide-treated nets have become a key strategy for malaria control. Social marketing is an appealing tool for getting such nets to poor rural African communities who are most afflicted by malaria. This approach usually involves subsidized prices to make nets and insecticide more affordable and help establish a commercial market. We evaluated a voucher system for targeted subsidy of treated nets in young children and pregnant women in two rural districts of southern Tanzania. Qualitative work involved focus group discussions with community leaders, male and female parents of children under 5 years. In-depth interviews were held with maternal and child health clinic staff and retail agents. Quantitative data were collected through interviewing more than 750 mothers of children under 5 years during a cluster sample survey of child health. The voucher return rate was extremely high at 97% (7720/8000). However, 2 years after the start of the scheme awareness among target groups was only 43% (45/104), and only 12% of women (12/103; 95% CI 4-48%) had used a voucher towards the cost of a net. We found some evidence of increased voucher use among least poor households, compared with the poorest households. On the basis of these results we renewed our information, education and communication (IEC) campaign about vouchers. Discount vouchers are a feasible system for targeted subsidies, although a substantial amount of time and effort may be needed to achieve high awareness and uptake - by which we mean the proportion of eligible women who used the vouchers - among those targeted. Within a poor society, vouchers may not necessarily increase health equity unless they cover a high proportion of the total cost: since some cash is needed when using a voucher as part-payment, poorer women among the target group are likely to have lower uptake than richer women. The vouchers have two important additional functions: strengthening the role of public health services in the context of a social marketing programme and forming an IEC tool to demonstrate the group at most risk of severe malaria

On trade vouchers called “local money”

There is a lot of debate currently about local monies: the “soproni kékfrankos” (Sopron blue franc), the “rábaközi tallér” (Rába District thaler), the “pécsi korona” (Pécs crown), the “debreceni fantallér” (Debrecen fanthaler) and the “veszprémi korona” (Veszprém crown), all initiatives having been launched recently. Despite the insignificance of local monies on the basis of international experience, local consumers (companies and households alike) may have encountered such instruments every now and then in the recent past. In view of increasing media coverage of the issue, we deemed it timely and necessary to reveal the key facts about these initiatives, and what trade vouchers – commonly known as “local money” – actually are.vouchers, local money, local currency.

The Effects of Vouchers on Academic Achievement: Evidence from Chile’s Conditional Voucher Program Juan A. Correa David Inostroza Francisco Parro Loreto Reyes Gabriel Ugarte Universidad Andrés Bello Marzo

Indexación: UNAB JEL Classi cation: H4; I2Abstract We use data from Chile's conditional voucher program to test the e ects of vouchers on academic achievement. Conditional vouchers have delivered extra resources to low-income, vulnerable students since 2008. Moreover, under this scheme, additional resources are contingent on the completion of speci c scholastic goals. Using a di erence-in-di erences approach, we nd a positive and signi cant e ect of vouchers on standardized test scores. Additionally, our results highlight the importance of conditioning the delivery of resources to some speci c academic goals when frictions exist in the education market

Transferring cash benefits through the banking sector in Colombia

This paper reviews the experience in transacting payments through the commercial banking system, to beneficiaries in Colombia's"Familias en Accion"program. The story told will be useful to those trying to solve the operational problem of moving cash, cost-effectively to large numbers of beneficiaries in social assistance, or similar programs. It shows the options considered, their advantages, disadvantages, and costs. Though some of the details may be specific to the country, and program, the approach to the analysis is broadly applicable.Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Financial Intermediation,Financial Crisis Management&Restructuring,Health Monitoring&Evaluation

Cut off III: the social impact of utility disconnection

This paper analyses the circumstances that led to people being disconnected from utilities, the impacts of disconnection, and how people manage to finance reconnection. It is based on 171 surveys and four interviews with consumers disconnected in the second half of 2012.  Findings are compared with Cut Off survey results from 2004 and 2008, noting a number of significant changes over the past eight years. The research reveals that paid workers are just as likely as pensioners and the unemployed to be disconnected from electricity, gas or water. Disconnection is most often the result of long-term financial stress rather than a one-off event. Furthermore, a significant number of respondents reported an unusually high utility bill and debt prior to disconnection. There was also a high proportion of people who felt that retailer payment plans were unaffordable, and a large number of people did not know that vouchers or payment assistance existed to pay utility bills in emergency situations. This suggests a strong need to improve and promote existing support services and for utility retailers to engage with consumers in ways that are tailored to their needs to avoid disconnection, especially for paid workers who may not be eligible for government assistance

Service cheques in Europe - a model for Germany? Employment effects and macro-economic costs: five scenarios

In the mid-nineties, near all european governments look almost desperately for a panacea against sluggish growth and high unemployment. Since this problem concerns mainly low-skilled workers, the creation of low-profile jobs in the personal service sector still seems to be one of the most promising solutions. After a long period of scepticism dominating economic thinking about the growth potential of this sector, a renaissance of the service-idea is taking place at the moment. The so called service cheque finds itself at the centre of this new policy approach. Its objective is twofold: to subsidize demand and to reduce the cost of labour. After France and Belgium, Germany is the third country introducing it at a large scale. The findings of this essay back up the opinion that direct welfare benefits, promoting the use of service-cheques, are preferable to those that rely on tax-relief incentives. On the other hand, the idea to provide households with a special welfare benefit in terms of service-cheques could prove risky once the system's high elasticity of output provokes uncontrollable budget deficits. Alternative models should therefore also be considered. -- Zu Beginn der neunziger Jahre suchen alle europäischen Regierungen beinahe händeringend nach neuen Politikansätzen zur Förderung eines beschäftigungsintensiven Wachstums. Da vor allem geringer qualifizierte Arbeitnehmer von konjunktureller und zunehmend struktureller Arbeitslosigkeit betroffen sind, erscheint die Schaffung neuer Arbeitsplätze im personennahen Dienstleistungssektor die erfolgversprechendste Lösung zu sein. Nachdem die traditionelle Wirtschaftstheorie für lange Jahre dieser Idee eine Absage erteilt hat, erlebt der Dienstleistungsgedanke zur Zeit eine Renaissance. Im Mittelpunkt dieser Politik steht der sogenannte Dienstleistungsscheck. Nach Frankreich und Belgien ist Deutschland das dritte Land, welches dieses Instrument in großem Stil einsetzt. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie unterstützen die Ansicht, daß direkte Transferleistungen besser dazu geeignet sind, den personennahen Dienstleistungssektor zu fördern, als Systeme, die Steuererleichterungen verwenden. Andererseits zeigt die vorliegende Analyse, daß Transfermodellen eine hohe Output-Elastizität innewohnt, welche das Risiko von unkontrollierbaren Einbussen öffentlicher Gelder bei gleichzeitig schwachen employmentseffekten beinhalten. Alternativmodelle sollten deshalb ebenso berücksichtigt werden.

The"IPO-Plus": a new approach to privatization

Every approach to privatization entails tradeoffs. The chief advantage of case-by-case privatization -including sales for cash or initial public offerings (IPOs)- is efficiency. Case-by-case privatization generates revenues, gives shareholders control over managers, and provides access to capital and skills. But it is slow and does not promote widespread public participation. Voucher-based mass privatization programs, by contrast, are designed to promote equity in the distribution of wealth, through widespread participation. But they do not ensure efficiency because they may not generate revenues, bring in new capital or skills, or give shareholders control over managers. To promote equity and efficiency, the authors propose a new form of privatization -IPO-Plus- that incorporates key features of both case-by-case privatization and mass privatization. IPO-Plus promotes equity through widespread (but not mass) participation in privatization. It promotes efficiency by making privatization transparent, by fostering capital market development, and by creating independent financial institutions that would press companies to improve their financial performance. It relies not on vouchers but on the sale of low-priced public shares. It allows deferred payment for company shares as an incentive to purchase them as well as downwardly flexible share prices. Because the quality of the enterprises chosen for privatization is essential to the success of the IPO-Plus program, it is important that few enterprises targeted for IPO-Plus be published before the program is launched. This will motivate potential investors to join the program by setting up management companies, establishing public investment funds, and buying shares in them. IPO-Plus is more likely than mass privatization to create real owners. Investors in IPO-Plus are given a subsidy, but only in proportion to what they themselves choose to pay. The individual determines (up to a ceiling) how much to invest in the program. IPO-Plus is particularly appropriate where the objective is to encourage outside ownership rather than significant employee ownership. It encourages the emergence of market intermediaries and ensures the concentration of enterprise shares in investment funds. Outside ownership and concentration of share voting rights provide the basis for enterprise restructuring and economic growth.Payment Systems&Infrastructure,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Economic Theory&Research,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Economic Theory&Research,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism