Essays on the Effects of Informal and Formal Protection Arrangements

Abstract

A feature of the development discourse in the past decade has been the emergence of large scale social safety net programmes in developing countries. In this thesis we look at the effects of different ‘safety net’ mechanisms, whereby the term ‘safety net’ is considered in a broader sense. The thesis does not only look at formal safety net programmes that are implemented by the government but also explores the effects of an informal social protection arrangement, i.e. the family, which acts as an important ‘safety net’ in contexts where formal protection mechanisms are not working or still fully absent.