Top social protection readings for the summer

Over the course of 2024, the social protection literature has been prolific. Since January, I have reviewed 404 materials as part of my weekly social protection links. Among them, here are 25 blockbuster reviews involving multiple countries. Enjoy!

Overall reviews

• Leight et al released a systematic review of cash and “cash-plus” programs based on 104 studies. 
• Grisolia compares the multisectoral effectiveness of cash transfers  based on 38 papers across seven dimensions and 20 indicators.
• An “evidence gap map” of cash transfers and cash-plus programs by Pasha et al scanned 709 impact evaluations and 33 systematic reviews.
• Drawing from 30 studies, Thota et al have a crisp summary of evidence on “cash plus” interventions.

Human development, gender, and food security

• Cirillo et al have a review of non-contributory programs for adolescents in low- and middle-income countries.
• A “narrative review” by Araujo et al synthesizes findings on the effects of social protection and activation programs on youth.
• ILO examined 41 studies on child and forced labor and explored how social protection, jobs and microfinance programs can affect them.
• Peterman et al have a systematic review of social assistance and women empowerment based on 106 studies.
• Bundy et al offer a refresher on school meal programs, while Alderman et al review the empirical base for those schemes.

Climate and resilience

• Costella et al lay out five channels, compounded by handy examples, connecting social protection and climate change.
• Sengupta and Sivanu review progress of social protection in tapping climate funds across 146 projects.
• An analysis by Pignatti et al covered 106 countries between 1980 and 2021 and found that social protection is the most countercyclical government measure.
• Coudouel et al stress-tested the shock-responsiveness of social protection systems in six Sahelian countries.
• Based on 38 studies, a systematic review by Machado et al sheds new light the effects of social protection on violence.

Design choices and technology

• Using the large ASPIRE country dataset, a paper on social assistance by Brollo et al quantifies trade-off between targeting methods, expanding coverage, poverty impact, and fiscal costs.
• Sibun and Seglah compile data from 52 low- and middle-income countries on three types of categorical benefits, namely social pensions, disability and child benefits.
• An article by Schnitzer and Stoeffler evaluates the comparative performance of targeting methods using nine datasets from six countries in Africa.
• A review by Okamura et al compared the experience with digital and AI-supported cash transfers in three countries – DRC, Nigeria, and Togo – during the pandemic.
• A new OECD report argues that technology can increase exclusion and reduce the uptake of social protection by beneficiaries.

Economy, society, and informality

• de la Feria and Swistak unveil a “progressive value added tax (VAT)” with an application to Mozambique and South Africa consumption data (they leverage real-time technology and adapt them for compensatory cash transfers).
• A paper by Heintz and Ghosh offers examples where formalization and social protection expansion can co-exist.
• A report by Corona and Velez-Grajales reviews the evidence on the theme from 27 studies.
• Torm and Oehme examine the effects of contributory social protection on formalization of firms and workers across 30 studies.
• Reinhart calls for a new narrative that emphasizes the societal benefits of cash transfers beyond impacts on beneficiaries.

To receive weekly articles, sign-up here