Self-Targeting: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Indonesia
在印度尼西亚的村庄实验中，研究发现为转移支付项目增加小额申请成本能通过自我选择显著改善瞄准效果，比自动注册更有效地将福利送达贫困人口。
This paper shows that adding a small application cost to a transfer program can substantially improve targeting through self-selection. Our village-level experiment in Indonesia finds that requiring beneficiaries to apply for benefits results in substantially poorer beneficiaries than automatic enrollment using the same asset test. Marginally increasing application costs on an experimental basis does not further improve targeting. Estimating a model of the application decision implies that the results are largely driven by the nonpoor, who make up the bulk of the population, forecasting that they are unlikely to pass the asset test and therefore not bothering to apply.