81215
                  enGender Impact: The World Bank’s Gender Impact Evaluation Database



   Combining Longitudinal Household and Community Surveys for Evaluation of Social
            Transfers: infrastructure rehabilitation projects in rural Georgia
      Author(s)            Michael Loksin and Ruslan Yemtsov
      Contact              mlokshin@worldbank.org

      Country              Georgia

  Organizing Theme         Education and Skills, Economic opportunities and Access to Assets

       Status              Completed

Intervention Category      Infrastructure Projects

       Sector              Infrastructure
                           This paper combines longitudinal household and community level survey data to evaluate
                           the effect of infrastructure rehabilitation projects on household well-being in rural Georgia.
                           The panel structure of the data is utilized in an empirical approach to control for time-
                           invariant unobservable factors at the community level by applying propensity score-
                           matched double difference comparison. The results indicate that improvements in school
      Abstract             and road infrastructure produce non-trivial gains on village and country levels. School
                           rehabilitation projects produce the largest gains for the poor, while the road projects
                           benefit the poor and non-poor in different aspects of wellbeing. From a methodological
                           point of departure it is concluded that ad hoc community surveys matched with ongoing
                           nationally representative longitudinal household surveys can provide a feasible and low-cost
                           tool for evaluation of the effectiveness of social transfers.
 Gender Connection         Gender Informed Analysis

  Gender Outcomes          Female labor force participation

     IE Design             Propensity Score Matching
                           The study examines the impact of various infrastructure rehabilitation projects. These
    Intervention           projects include school rehabilitation projects, improvements in roads, and water system
                           rehabilitation.
 Intervention Period       Projects were completed at various times.

  Sample population        Details on the sample are not included in the paper
                           The study uses propensity score matching to match treatment villages with similar villages
Comparison conditions
                           that did not receive the treatment.
   Unit of analysis        Community Level

  Evaluation Period        1998-2002
                           Improvements in school infrastructure produced significant gains in school enrollment
       Results
                           rates, school attendance, and health risks of school-aged children. Road and bridge


   Last updated: 14 August 2013                                                                       1
                   enGender Impact: The World Bank’s Gender Impact Evaluation Database


                            rehabilitation led to increased economic indicators at the community level. The number of
                            SMEs increased while barter trade fell. The impact of road projects is insignificant. School
                            attendance and children's health improved more among the poor than among the better-
                            off. Female off-farm employment is significantly improved amongst the poor and non-
                            poor.
Primary study limitations   The study does not discuss limitations

    Funding Source
                            Lokshin, M., & Yemtsov, R. (2004). Combining longitudinal household and community
      Reference(s)          surveys for evaluation of social transfers: Infrastructure rehabilitation projects in rural
                            Georgia. Journal of Human Development, 5(2), 265-277.
    Link to Studies         http://web.ebscohost.com.libproxy-
                            wb.imf.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=49af27ef-c694-4554-878c-
                            1f1a754854ed%40sessionmgr113&vid=2&hid=120
       Microdata




    Last updated: 14 August 2013                                                                        2