Improving Dibao Monitoring and Evaluation: Methodologies and Roadmap

Dibao is not only China's primary social assistance programme, but also the world's largest such programme in terms of beneficiary population. This article reviews the international literature on monitoring management performance and impact evaluation of social assistance programmes around the world and offers a roadmap for improving dibao monitoring and evaluation through better data and methodology preparation and system building. Specifically, the authors propose to design and conduct more rigorous and better coordinated longitudinal research studies focusing on dibao's target population and covering multidimensional outcomes, with a particular emphasis on children and welfare-to-work programmes.