How Did Workers Benefit from Bolivia's Emergency Social Fund?

Bolivia's Emergency Social Fund (ESF) was established to cushionthe adverse effects on the poor of the economic crisis and subsequentstabilization program in the 1980s and to facilitate transitionthrough the phases of structural adjustment. The ESF providedtemporary employment opportunities by funding small-scale, labor-intensiveprojects that were proposed by local governmental and nongovernmentalorganizations. This article measures the impact of the ESF programon employment and income of workers in the ESF projects. Forthe average ESF worker, hourly wages were 12.8 percent higher,the work week was 9.5 hours longer, and weekly earnings were32 percent higher than what they would have been without theESF. Taking into account the probability that the individualmay not have worked without the ESF leads to larger gains. Thegreatest benefits from participating in the program were receivedby those who would have been least well-off without it.