Sources of selection bias in evaluating social programs: An interpretation of conventional measures and evidence on the effectiveness of matching as a program evaluation method

This paper decomposes the conventional measure of selection bias in observational studies into three components. The first two components are due to differences in the distributions of characteristics between participant and nonparticipant (comparison) group members: the first arises from differences in the supports, and the second from differences in densities over the region of common support. The third component arises from selection bias precisely defined. Using data from a recent social experiment, we find that the component due to selection bias, precisely defined, is smaller than the first two components. However, selection bias still represents a substantial fraction of the experimental impact estimate. The empirical performance of matching methods of program evaluation is also examined. We find that matching based on the propensity score eliminates some but not all of the measured selection bias, with the remaining bias still a substantial fraction of the estimated impact. We find that the support of the distribution of propensity scores for the comparison group is typically only a small portion of the support for the participant group. For values outside the common support, it is impossible to reliably estimate the effect of program participation using matching methods. If the impact of participation depends on the propensity score, as we find in our data, the failure of the common support condition severely limits matching compared with random assignment as an evaluation estimator.

Los desaf??os de las pol??ticas y la gesti??n social en Am??rica Latina

La pobreza est?? aumentando en t??rminos absolutos de manera sistem??tica desde 1990 y, desde comienzos del nuevo siglo, tambi??n en valores relativos. Hay, sin embargo, una buena nueva: el gasto p??blico social ha aumentado tambi??n de manera sistem??tica desde entonces. ??Qu?? se ha hecho con la enorme magnitud de recursos destinada a financiar las pol??ticas sociales? Hay, por un lado, limitaciones que surgen de la forma en que ellas se dise??an e implementan. La gesti??n social tradicional asume que el impacto perseguido se producir?? autom??ticamente como resultado de la mera entrega de los bienes o servicios a la poblaci??n destinataria. Aparece, adem??s, la masiva introducci??n de mecanismos de mercado en las pol??ticas sociales, bajo el supuesto que permitir??an mejorar su eficiencia e impacto. Teniendo en cuenta las limitaciones precedentes, se sugieren en este art??culo tres senderos, estos son: la superaci??n del estilo tradicional de gestionar los programas y proyectos sociales; el aprendizaje por medio de la experiencia de la evaluaci??n de impacto y del monitoreo; y la generaci??n de un estilo m??s participativo en el proceso de dise??o, gesti??n y evaluaci??n de las pol??ticas sociales.

Mobilidade social e empoderamento: a percep????o das mulheres benefici??rias do programa Bolsa Fam??lia em Minas Gerais

Esse trabalho teve como objetivo analisar os efeitos relacionados ?? mobilidade social e ao empoderamento das benefici??rias do Programa Bolsa Fam??lia em Minas Gerais. Foram utilizados procedimentos metodol??gicos anal??ticos, em um estudo de caso m??ltiplo com abordagem quantitativa. Foi realizada a valida????o dos constructos de mobilidade social e empoderamento, permitindo-se mensurar a intensidade da rela????o entre essas diferentes dimens??es. Os resultados demonstram a melhoria significativa na vida das benefici??rias, o que pode possibilitar ascend??ncia social. Contudo, observou-se, como fator limitante, o baixo grau de escolaridade das benefici??rias, mostrando-se a necessidade de conex??o dos programas sociais com atividades educacionais e de gera????o de trabalho e renda, para inser????o das mulheres no mercado de trabalho. Dessa forma, considera-se que o Programa Bolsa Fam??lia pode influenciar significativamente tanto no empoderamento quanto na mobilidade social das benefici??rias. Ademais, a articula????o com atividades educacionais e produtivas pode avigorar os resultados de pol??ticas p??blicas que defendam a justi??a social e a diminui????o das desigualdades existentes entre g??neros e classes sociais.

Tri-sector partnerships in social entrepreneurship: discourse and practice of the actors from the circles of action and reflection

This article discusses the construction of tri-sector partnerships in three projects conducted in Brazil in different fields of intervention of public policy (access to water, basic education and performance of boards of rights of children and adolescents). Collaborative articulations involving the players from three sectors (the State, civil society and the market) are practices that are little studied in the Brazilian and even in the international context, as tri-sector partnerships are rare, despite the proliferation of lines of discourse in support of alliances between governments and civil society or between companies and NGOs in the management of public policy. As a research strategy, this study resorted to cooperative inquiry, a method that involves breaking down the boundaries between the subjects and the objects of the analysis. Besides working toward a better understanding of the challenges of building tri-sector partnerships in the Brazilian context, the article also tries to show the relevance to public policy studies of investigative methods based on the subjects studied, as a means of developing an understanding of the practices, lines of discourse and dilemmas linked to social action in social programs.

La garantia social: un recurs de lluita contra l'exclusió social

En aquest article s'ofereix una perspectiva general al voltant del concepte de garantía social, intentant oferir un horitzó que supera la dimensió de la inserció laboral amb la finalitat d'assolir una adequada integració social. En aquest sentit, es desenvolupen les característiques del centre de recursos per la garantía social com model d'atenció integral, detallant els objectius i els processos bàsics a seguir.

Cap a on van els programes de garantia social

En el present estudi es descriu l'experiència de la implantació dels PGS en la comunitat de Castella-La Manxa, partint d'un marc conceptual en el que es descriuen les modalitats i característiques de programes. Es detallen les dades obtingudes mitjançant d'un estudi empíric que ofereix informació sobre els diferents agents (professorat, alumnes, famílies) que concurreixen en tals Programes de Garantía Social.

O novo federalismo social e o Rio: desenho de programas complementares de transferência de renda condicionada

Brazilian public policy entered in the so-called new social federalism through its conditional cash transfers. States and municipalities can operate together through the nationwide platform of the Bolsa Familia Program (BFP), complementing federal actions with local innovations. The state and the city of Rio de Janeiro have created programs named, respectively, Renda Melhor (RM) and Família Carioca (FC). These programs make use of the operational structure of the BFP, which facilitates locating beneficiaries, issuing cards, synchronizing payment dates and access passwords and introducing new conditionalities. The payment system of the two programs complements the estimated permanent household income up to the poverty line established, giving more to those who have less. Similar income complementation system was subsequently adopted in the BFP and the Chilean Ingreso Ético Familiar, which also follow the principle of estimation of income used in the FC and in the RM. Instead of using the declared income, the value of the Rio cash transfers are set using the extensive collection of information obtained from the Single Registry of Social Programs (Cadastro Único): physical configuration of housing, access to public services, education and work conditions for all family members, presence of vulnerable groups, disabilities, pregnant or lactating women, children and benefits from other official transfers such as the BFP. With this multitude of assets and limitations, the permanent income of each individual is estimated. The basic benefit is defined by the poverty gap and priority is given to the poorest. These subnational programs use international benchmarks as a neutral ground between different government levels and mandates. Their poverty line is the highest of the first millennium goal of the United Nations (UN): US$ 2 per person per day adjusted for the cost of living. The other poverty line of the UN, US$ 1.25, was implicitly adopted as the national extreme poverty line in 2011. The exchange of methodologies between federal entities has happened both ways. The FC began with the 575,000 individuals living in the city of Rio de Janeiro who were on the payroll of the BFP. Its system of impact evaluation benefited from bi-monthly standardized examinations. In the educational conditionalities, the two programs reward students' progress, a potential advantage for those who most need to advance. The municipal program requires greater school attendance than that of the BFP and the presence of students’ parents at the bimonthly meetings held on Saturdays. Students must achieve a grade of 8 or improve at least 20% in each exam to receive a bi-monthly premium of R$50. In early childhood, priority is given to the poor children in the program Single Administrative Register (CadÚnico) to enroll in kindergarten, preschools and complementary activities. The state program reaches more than one million people with a payment system similar to the municipal one. Moreover, it innovates in that it transfers awards given to high school students to savings accounts. The prize increases and is paid to the student, who can withdraw up to 30% annually. The total can reach R$3,800 per low-income student. The State and the city rewarded already education professionals according to student performance, now completing the chain of demand incentives on poor students and their parents. Increased performance is higher among beneficiaries and the presence of their guardians at meetings is twice compared to non beneficiaries; The Houston program, also focuses on aligning the incentives to teachers, parents and students. In general, the plan is to explore strategic complementarities, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The objective is to stimulate, through targets and incentives, synergies between social actors (teachers, parents, students), between areas (education, assistance, work) and different levels of government. The cited programs sum their efforts and divide labor so as to multiply interactions and make a difference in the lives of the poor.

O marketing e a atuação social das empresas: uma relação possível

The present work is about a study of multiple cases with exploratory and descriptiveperspective and qualitative emphasis. Its field of study is constituted by three local companieswith description of social performance, with emphasis in the personal interview with thecontrollers. Its main objective consists of understanding as it has occurred the marketingrelation with the enterprise social performance in the context of these companies located inthe State of the Rio Grande do Norte who carry out social investments. For this, it hassearched to analyze the types and characteristics of the developed social actions, to evaluatethe motivations and objectives of the accomplishment of social actions, to verify theimportance and influence of the social performance in the dynamics of the companies, toverify the level of specific knowledge and information in the areas of marketing and socialperformance in the companies and to evaluate the process of communication (promotion andspreading) of the social performance carried out by the companies. It has been verified thatthe company A directly associates it its social and ambient activities with differentiationbenefits, competitiveness, creation of value, loyalty, relationships, image, prestige,positioning of the company, sale and financial return, beyond benefits in the internal level asbigger motivation of its employees and retention of talents, not existing rejection to theinterlacement of the concepts related to the marketing and the social one. Already in companyB rejection in relating its practical social to the marketing, being observed after posteriorquestionings, that the relation of direct and indirect form exists and those divulgations of theseactions are carried out, contradicting the arguments of the controllers of that the actions wouldnot be carried out to generate media. In company C, it been verified rejection andcontradiction with relation to the concepts related to the marketing, alleging itself that theimage of the harnessed company to its social performance is not used in proper benefit,evidencing itself that this company divulges its action and is marketable benefited, even so isnot this the main objective of its social programs. It has concluded that the association ofthese two concepts is positive and favorable to the development of the businesses and thesocial actions of the companies, legitimizing them and benefiting the involved company,groups in the actions and the society that profits socially from the private social involvement in the social matters

¿Es correcto vincular la política social a la informalidad en México?: una prueba simple de las premisas de esta hipótesis

Incluye Bibliografía

Social policies and socioeconomic indicators for transitional economies

Includes bibliography

Social disparity and oral health

There is a clear reported association between social disparity and oral health, for example, between dental caries and malnutrition in children. This fact is detected in several studies, and also found amongst the Brazilian population. However, several efforts have been made to improve the quality of life of the population and to achieve the 2015 Millennium Development Goals. Oral health is a branch to be improved among these goals. The Brazilian experience has been drawing the attention of authorities, insofar as there have been direct improvements in oral health through state oral health programs, and also indirect results by improving the quality of life of the population. Included within the Brazilian oral health programs are the Family Health Program and Smiling Brazil Program. The former is a global healthcare program which involves primary oral healthcare, while the latter is a specialized oral care program. Among the social programs that would indirectly improve oral health are Family Stipend and the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience of Natal (ELS-IINN). In conclusion, although oral health problems are related to socioeconomic factors, the implementation of primary oral health programs and programs to improve the population's quality of life may directly or indirectly improve the oral health scenario. This fact is being observed in Brazil, where the oral health policies have changed, and social programs have been implemented.

Proteção social não contributiva: um estudo sobre o BPC destinado ao idoso em Belém - Pará

Este trabalho é produto de um estudo que contempla a dimensão não contributiva da proteção social brasileira. Nesta perspectiva, privilegiamos o Benefício de Prestação Continuada - BPC, o benefício componente da proteção social não contributiva da política de assistência social, considerado desta forma, como um importante mecanismo capaz de garantir a sobrevivência das pessoas em situação de vulnerabilidade social e econômica, embora não se dedique somente a esse aspecto, conforme apontam as leis que regem sua operacionalização. No desenvolvimento da pesquisa buscamos conhecer melhor a população idosa beneficiária, a inserção desses sujeitos em outras formas de proteção social. Questiona-se ainda, se o BPC tem sido capaz de promover autonomia, melhorando sua sociabilidade, o acesso aos serviços de saúde e se tem promovido segurança alimentar aos idosos beneficiários. Também procuramos conhecer o olhar - a percepção - dos idosos beneficiários sobre o benefício, destacando como eles consideram o recebimento deste provento. Nosso objetivo está concentrado em conhecer os resultados sociais, os reflexos que o recebimento do BPC é capaz de gerar na vida dos beneficiários idosos em Belém-Pará, e a partir desta perspectiva investigar e conhecer, nesta vertente, as formas de efetivação da proteção social destinadas aos idosos neste município. O alcance da proteção social na dimensão não contributiva efetivada pela política de assistência social a partir do BPC/idoso em Belém se mostra como um dos pontos que ancora nossas discussões a fim de desenvolver um diálogo entre a ampliação da proteção social não contributiva, e a efetivação deste benefício assistencial na capital paraense.

A saúde de jovens mães: desafios para os sitemas de proteção social

Pós-graduação em Serviço Social - FCHS

A participação social através do crowdfunding: uma análise dos projetos da plataforma catarse

This study examined the practices of crowdfunding, collective vehicle of fundraising for the production of works of culture, education, social programs etc over the internet. Through the analysis of registered projects and finalized in Brazilian site funding col-laborative Catarse, we were able to list interesting points to be considered to deter-mine what lead people to cooperate or not with this kind of practice. It was noticed that the internet materialized in front of individuals as an important vehicle for social participation, enabling the concern to collaborate on projects, people and causes that have common characteristics or interests bring benefits to society

As interações da ISO 26000 com a responsabilidade social e o Serviço Social nas organizações calçadista: estudo de caso

Pós-graduação em Serviço Social - FCHS