Measuring the Effectiveness of Social Protection: Concepts and Applications

Abstract

This book provides users an understanding of key social protection concepts and measurement metrics and introduces them to the ADePT SP software, which is used to conduct social protection performance analysis. It presents the main concepts of social protection, including the typology of programs and their objectives. Because these objectives often include poverty and inequality, the concepts of poverty and inequality are also discussed in relation to social protection with the appropriate reference to the ADePT Poverty and Inequality software and book (Foster and others 2013). This manual describes methodologies for assessing social protection and discusses how measurement metrics, such as the poverty impact, require understanding the underlying mechanisms and often use multiple indicators. Attention is therefore given to a holistic approach of analysis so that the relationship between indicators can be better understood, as well as ways to use this analysis to improve policies and programs to maximize outcomes. This book is arranged as follows: Following Introduction, Chapters 2 and 3 guide the reader to a deeper comprehension of the main concepts and the methods for measurement; and Chapters 4 and 5 then explain how to generate and interpret the indicators and extrapolate the possible implications for social protection policy and particular programs.