Poverty and Inequality
An Economic Interpretation of Targeting Systems for Social Programs: The Case of Colombia?s SISBEN
Documents File (PDF, 150 Kb, En) SISBEN is a proxy means test index widely used as a targeting system for social programs in
Colombia. The SISBEN index is a function of a set of household variables related to the
consumption of durable goods, human capital endowment and current income. SISBEN was
created by the Colombian government with the purpose of simplifying, expediting and reducing
the cost of targeting individual beneficiaries of social programs at the various government levels.
Last updated: 04/26/07