Cash transfers as a response to COVID-19: Experimental evidence from Kenya

Wyatt Brooks, Kevin Donovan, Terence R. Johnson and Jackline Oluoch-Aridi

Journal of Development Economics, 2022, vol. 158, issue C

Abstract: We deliver one month’s average profit to a randomly selected group of female microenterprise owners in Dandora, Kenya, arriving just in advance of an exponential growth in COVID-19 cases. Relative to a control group, firms recoup about one third of their initial decline in profit, and food expenditures increase. Control profit responds to economic conditions and government announcements during our study period, and treatment effects are largest when control profit is at its lowest. PPE spending and precautionary management practices increase to mitigate the health risks of more intensive firm operation, but only among those who perceive COVID-19 as a major risk.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cash transfers; Microenterprises; Women (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 L26 O12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:deveco:v:158:y:2022:i:c:s0304387822000840

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2022.102929

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