How much do our neighbors really know? The limits of community-based targeting
Social assistance programs in developing countries often rely on local community members to identify potential beneficiaries. As community members may observe neighbors’ welfare, their reports may capture transitory shocks better than the proxies typically observable by a centralized policy implemen...
| Autores principales: | , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Elsevier
2026
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/175627 |
| _version_ | 1855529906658607104 |
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| author | Trachtman, Carly Permana, Yudistira Hendra Sahadewo, Gumilang Aryo |
| author_browse | Permana, Yudistira Hendra Sahadewo, Gumilang Aryo Trachtman, Carly |
| author_facet | Trachtman, Carly Permana, Yudistira Hendra Sahadewo, Gumilang Aryo |
| author_sort | Trachtman, Carly |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Social assistance programs in developing countries often rely on local community members to identify potential beneficiaries. As community members may observe neighbors’ welfare, their reports may capture transitory shocks better than the proxies typically observable by a centralized policy implementer. To test this, we conduct a lab-style experiment in Central Java, in which participants rank other community members’ welfare, using benchmarks that vary in sensitivity to transitory shocks, and target small cash transfers. We find little evidence that community-held welfare information better reflects transitory shocks and find that targeting decisions mostly depend on perceived differences in overall wealth.
JEL Codes: O12, I32, D83 |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace175627 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| publisherStr | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1756272025-10-26T13:02:36Z How much do our neighbors really know? The limits of community-based targeting Trachtman, Carly Permana, Yudistira Hendra Sahadewo, Gumilang Aryo community development policy innovation poverty targeting Social assistance programs in developing countries often rely on local community members to identify potential beneficiaries. As community members may observe neighbors’ welfare, their reports may capture transitory shocks better than the proxies typically observable by a centralized policy implementer. To test this, we conduct a lab-style experiment in Central Java, in which participants rank other community members’ welfare, using benchmarks that vary in sensitivity to transitory shocks, and target small cash transfers. We find little evidence that community-held welfare information better reflects transitory shocks and find that targeting decisions mostly depend on perceived differences in overall wealth. JEL Codes: O12, I32, D83 2026-01 2025-07-14T15:44:29Z 2025-07-14T15:44:29Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/175627 en Open Access Elsevier Trachtman, Carly; Permana, Yudistira Hendra; and Sahadewo, Gumilang Aryo. 2025. How much do our neighbors really know? The limits of community-based targeting. Journal of Development Economics 178(January 2026): 103555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103555 |
| spellingShingle | community development policy innovation poverty targeting Trachtman, Carly Permana, Yudistira Hendra Sahadewo, Gumilang Aryo How much do our neighbors really know? The limits of community-based targeting |
| title | How much do our neighbors really know? The limits of community-based targeting |
| title_full | How much do our neighbors really know? The limits of community-based targeting |
| title_fullStr | How much do our neighbors really know? The limits of community-based targeting |
| title_full_unstemmed | How much do our neighbors really know? The limits of community-based targeting |
| title_short | How much do our neighbors really know? The limits of community-based targeting |
| title_sort | how much do our neighbors really know the limits of community based targeting |
| topic | community development policy innovation poverty targeting |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/175627 |
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