|
Field
Abstract
|
Before
The Ultra Poor Graduation (UPG) Program was initiated by BRAC in 2002 as a grant-based intervention that encompassed various kinds of enterprise development support and subsistence allowance. When the pilot of the program was initiated, the program was designed to provide the ultra-poor with a grant-based support package which included productive assets, a weekly subsistence allowance, enterprise development training, close supervision/coaching through high-frequency home visits, and health supports. The second phase (2007) offered a credit plus grant-based supposed package, along with the existing grant-based support package while the third phase (2012) also offered support package to households in the climate change prone coastal and haor regions of the country. The latest modification (2017) was dividing the ultra-poor into three groups; group 1 consisting of elderly population receiving government aids and grants from BRAC, and groups 2 and 3 receiving enterprise and other support from BRAC.
With a sample size of 38902, the 2019 cohort, which is the baseline for our impact evaluation study, underwent some modifications in selection criteria of participants (groups 2 and 3 only) and design of interventions (partial asset grant or interest-free loan plus the provision of a savings match or savings messaging) to evaluate the following aspects pertaining to the UPG program:
• Overall impact of the new graduation program
• The marginal impact of matched contributions to a savings account on participants
• The behavioral impact induced by savings messaging
• Impact of the program on eligible non-participants.
With a sample size of 4000 households, the endline survey is expected to be completed by February 2022. However, due to the many challenges posited by Covid-19, the endline survey will deviate from previously intended design due to potential significant bias into our estimates. We will be dropping the treatment arms pertaining to savings messaging (T2 and T3) and the spillover control group (SC) and focus on the overall impact of the graduation program, especially in the context of an exogenous shock like Covid-19.
|
After
The Ultra Poor Graduation (UPG) Program was initiated by BRAC in 2002 as a grant-based intervention that encompassed various kinds of enterprise development support and subsistence allowance. When the pilot of the program was initiated, the program was designed to provide the ultra-poor with a grant-based support package which included productive assets, a weekly subsistence allowance, enterprise development training, close supervision/coaching through high-frequency home visits, and health supports. The second phase (2007) offered a credit plus grant-based support package, along with the existing grant-based support package while the third phase (2012) also offered support package to households in the climate change prone coastal and haor regions of the country. The latest modification (2017) was dividing the ultra-poor into three groups; group 1 consisting of elderly population receiving government aids and grants from BRAC, and groups 2 and 3 receiving enterprise and other support from BRAC.
With a sample size of 38902, the 2019 cohort, which is the baseline for our impact evaluation study, underwent some modifications in selection criteria of participants (groups 2 and 3 only) and design of interventions (partial asset grant or interest-free loan plus the provision of a savings match or savings messaging) to evaluate the following aspects pertaining to the UPG program:
• Overall impact of the new graduation program
• The marginal impact of matched contributions to a savings account on participants
• The behavioral impact induced by savings messaging
• Impact of the program on eligible non-participants.
With a sample size of 4000 households, the endline survey is expected to be completed by March 2022. However, due to the many challenges posited by Covid-19, the endline survey will deviate from previously intended design due to potential significant bias into our estimates. We will be dropping the treatment arms pertaining to savings messaging (T2 and T3) and the spillover control group (SC) and focus on the overall impact of the graduation program, especially in the context of an exogenous shock like Covid-19.
|