Cash, food, or vouchers? Evidence from a randomized experiment in northern Ecuador

Melissa Hidrobo, John Hoddinott, Amber Peterman, Amy Margolies and Vanessa Moreira

Journal of Development Economics, 2014, vol. 107, issue C, 144-156

Abstract: The debate over whether to provide food-assistance and the form that this assistance should take has a long history in economics. Despite the ongoing debate, little rigorous evidence exists that compares food-assistance in the form of cash versus in-kind. This paper uses a randomized evaluation to assess the impacts and cost-effectiveness of cash, food vouchers, and food transfers. We find that all three modalities significantly improve the quantity and quality of food consumed. However, differences emerge in the types of food consumed with food transfers leading to significantly larger increases in calories consumed and vouchers leading to significantly larger increases in dietary-diversity.

Keywords: Food assistance; Cash and in-kind transfers; Food security (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D04 I38 O12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (118)

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Working Paper: Cash, food, or vouchers?: Evidence from a randomized experiment in northern Ecuador (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:deveco:v:107:y:2014:i:c:p:144-156

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2013.11.009

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