Can a program designed for the ultra-poor create economic benefits for an entire village?
At বিআইজিডি গবেষণার খোঁজখবর, Sreevidya Ayyar, PhD Candidate in Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), discussed her research, “Trickle-Up: Village-Wide Effects of Targeting the Ultra-Poor.”
The study examines the wider effects of BRAC’s Ultra-Poor Graduation (UPG) program across 1,309 villages in Bangladesh. It finds significant increases in wealth among both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries, with some of the strongest effects among richer, land-owning households. It also explores how shifts in land and labor markets may help explain these spillovers, offering a broader perspective on the returns to social assistance.
