The long term effects of the 'Targeting the Ultra Poor Programme'

This paper studies the long-run effects of a "big-push" programme providing a large asset transfer to the poorest Indian households. In a randomised controlled trial that follows these households over ten years, the study finds positive effects on consumption, food security, income and health. These effects grow for the first seven years following the transfer and persist until year ten. One main channel for persistence is that treated households take better advantage of opportunities to diversify into more lucrative wage employment, especially through migration.