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The effects of cash and in-kind transfers on intra-household inequality: Insights from a randomized experiment

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  • Jose L. Casco

    (Bank of Mexico)

Abstract

In this paper, I study how intra-household inequality responds to transfers to women and whether the response depends on the transfer being in-kind or cash. Using data from an experimental evaluation of a welfare program in Ecuador, I estimate a structural model of household behavior in the presence of poverty transfers. Results suggest that there are important intra-household inequalities, but the transfer produces resource redistribution among household members. Moreover, in-kind transfers could be as effective as cash transfers in improving the within-household redistribution of resources. Finally, I document considerable heterogeneity in women's control of resources—a proxy for bargaining power—throughout their life cycle and across transfer modalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Jose L. Casco, 2023. "The effects of cash and in-kind transfers on intra-household inequality: Insights from a randomized experiment," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 43(3), pages 1519-1527.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-23-00100
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Martin Browning & Pierre-André Chiappori & Arthur Lewbel, 2013. "Estimating Consumption Economies of Scale, Adult Equivalence Scales, and Household Bargaining Power," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 80(4), pages 1267-1303.
    2. Denni Tommasi & Alexander Wolf, 2016. "Overcoming Weak Identification in the Estimation of Household Resource Shares," Working Papers ECARES ECARES 2016-12, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    3. Senay Sokullu & Christine Valente, 2022. "Individual consumption in collective households: Identification using repeated observations with an application to PROGRESA," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(2), pages 286-304, March.
    4. Rossella Calvi, 2020. "Why Are Older Women Missing in India? The Age Profile of Bargaining Power and Poverty," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(7), pages 2453-2501.
    5. Geoffrey R. Dunbar & Arthur Lewbel & Krishna Pendakur, 2013. "Children's Resources in Collective Households: Identification, Estimation, and an Application to Child Poverty in Malawi," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(1), pages 438-471, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Resource Shares; Transfers; Control of Resources; Cash; In-Kind;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty

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