IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/eurjdr/v31y2019i3d10.1057_s41287-018-0166-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effects of Emergency Housing on Wellbeing: Evidence from Argentina’s Informal Settlements

Author

Listed:
  • Ann Mitchell

    (Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina)

  • Jimena Macció

    (Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina)

  • Diego Mariño Fages

    (Universidad de San Andres
    Universidad Nacional del Nordeste)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present evidence on the effects on wellbeing of providing a basic dwelling on-site to households living in situations of extreme poverty in urban slums. In particular, the paper evaluates the impact of the NGO TECHO’s emergency housing programme in informal settlements of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Using a quasi-experimental pipeline approach, the paper shows that the programme has a large effect on privacy, security, interpersonal relations, psychological wellbeing and perception of quality of life. Regarding health, the program only produces a reduction in the prevalence of cough and congestion. While indicators of sleep quality improve, the effects are not statistically significant after adjusting for multiple hypothesis testing. Additionally, the programme increases the likelihood that households with school age children have a tranquil place to study, evidence that the programme could broaden children’s long-term opportunities.

Suggested Citation

  • Ann Mitchell & Jimena Macció & Diego Mariño Fages, 2019. "The Effects of Emergency Housing on Wellbeing: Evidence from Argentina’s Informal Settlements," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(3), pages 504-529, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:31:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1057_s41287-018-0166-z
    DOI: 10.1057/s41287-018-0166-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41287-018-0166-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41287-018-0166-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. White, Howard, 2006. "Impact evaluation: the experience of the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank," MPRA Paper 1111, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Galiani, Sebastian & Schargrodsky, Ernesto, 2010. "Property rights for the poor: Effects of land titling," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(9-10), pages 700-729, October.
    3. Tamer, Elie, 2010. "Partial Identification in Econometrics," Scholarly Articles 34728615, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    4. Thomson, H. & Thomas, S. & Sellstrom, E. & Petticrew, M., 2009. "The health impacts of housing improvement: a systematic review of intervention studies from 1887 to 2007," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99, pages 681-692.
    5. Matias D. Cattaneo & Sebastian Galiani & Paul J. Gertler & Sebastian Martinez & Rocio Titiunik, 2009. "Housing, Health, and Happiness," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 75-105, February.
    6. Alberto Abadie & Susan Athey & Guido W Imbens & Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2023. "When Should You Adjust Standard Errors for Clustering?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 138(1), pages 1-35.
    7. Swain, Ranjula Bali & Varghese, Adel, 2009. "Does Self Help Group Participation Lead to Asset Creation?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 1674-1682, October.
    8. Goux, Dominique & Maurin, Eric, 2005. "The effect of overcrowded housing on children's performance at school," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(5-6), pages 797-819, June.
    9. Sandra J. Newman, 2008. "Does housing matter for poor families? A critical summary of research and issues still to be resolved," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(4), pages 895-925.
    10. Florencia Devoto & Esther Duflo & Pascaline Dupas & William Parienté & Vincent Pons, 2012. "Happiness on Tap: Piped Water Adoption in Urban Morocco," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 68-99, November.
    11. repec:idb:brikps:83178 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Guido W. Imbens, 2015. "Matching Methods in Practice: Three Examples," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(2), pages 373-419.
    13. Cruces, Guillermo & Perez-Truglia, Ricardo & Tetaz, Martin, 2013. "Biased perceptions of income distribution and preferences for redistribution: Evidence from a survey experiment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 100-112.
    14. Guido W. Imbens & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2009. "Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 5-86, March.
    15. Eduardo Rojas & Nadin Medellín, 2011. "Housing Policy Matters for the Poor: Housing Conditions in Latin America and the Caribbean, 1995-2006," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 59458, Inter-American Development Bank.
    16. Coleman, Brett E., 1999. "The impact of group lending in Northeast Thailand," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 105-141, October.
    17. Rojas, Eduardo & Medellín, Nadin, 2011. "Housing Policy Matters for the Poor: Housing Conditions in Latin America and the Caribbean, 1995-2006," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 3817, Inter-American Development Bank.
    18. Elie Tamer, 2010. "Partial Identification in Econometrics," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 167-195, September.
    19. Deininger, Klaus & Liu, Yanyan, 2013. "Economic and Social Impacts of an Innovative Self-Help Group Model in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 149-163.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Choda, Amreen & Schoofs, Annekathrin & Verrinder, Noel, 2020. "Improving housing conditions: Labelled loans in Kenya and Uganda," Ruhr Economic Papers 878, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    2. Ann Mitchell and Jimena Macció, 2018. "Evaluating the Effects of Housing Interventions on Multidimensional Poverty: The Case of TECHO-Argentina," OPHI Working Papers ophiwp120.pdf, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    3. Galiani, Sebastián & Gertler, Paul J. & Undurraga, Raimundo & Cooper, Ryan & Martínez, Sebastián & Ross, Adam, 2017. "Shelter from the storm: Upgrading housing infrastructure in Latin American slums," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 187-213.
    4. Franklin, Simon, 2020. "Enabled to work: The impact of government housing on slum dwellers in South Africa," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    5. Susan Athey & Guido W. Imbens, 2017. "The State of Applied Econometrics: Causality and Policy Evaluation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(2), pages 3-32, Spring.
    6. Daniel Kaliski, 2023. "Identifying the impact of health insurance on subgroups with changing rates of diagnosis," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(9), pages 2098-2112, September.
    7. John Mullahy, 2017. "Individual Results May Vary: Elementary Analytics of Inequality-Probability Bounds, with Applications to Health-Outcome Treatment Effects," NBER Working Papers 23603, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Sung Jae Jun & Sokbae Lee, 2023. "Identifying the Effect of Persuasion," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 131(8), pages 2032-2058.
    9. Laura Jaitman, 2015. "Urban infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean: public policy priorities," Latin American Economic Review, Springer;Centro de Investigaciòn y Docencia Económica (CIDE), vol. 24(1), pages 1-57, December.
    10. Galiani, Sebastián & Gertler, Paul J. & Undurraga, Raimundo & Cooper, Ryan & Martínez, Sebastián & Ross, Adam, 2017. "Shelter from the storm: Upgrading housing infrastructure in Latin American slums," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 187-213.
    11. Mullahy, John, 2018. "Individual results may vary: Inequality-probability bounds for some health-outcome treatment effects," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 151-162.
    12. Brown, Annette N. & Wood, Benjamin Douglas Kuflick, 2018. "Which tests not witch hunts: A diagnostic approach for conducting replication research," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 12, pages 1-26.
    13. Nicolai V. Kuminoff & V. Kerry Smith & Christopher Timmins, 2013. "The New Economics of Equilibrium Sorting and Policy Evaluation Using Housing Markets," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 51(4), pages 1007-1062, December.
    14. Ting Ye & Luke Keele & Raiden Hasegawa & Dylan S. Small, 2020. "A Negative Correlation Strategy for Bracketing in Difference-in-Differences," Papers 2006.02423, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2022.
    15. Alexandra Peralta & Scott M. Swinton & Songqing Jin, 2018. "The Secret to Getting Ahead Is Getting Started: Early Impacts of a Rural Development Project," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-20, July.
    16. Sung Jae Jun & Sokbae Lee, 2020. "Causal Inference under Outcome-Based Sampling with Monotonicity Assumptions," Papers 2004.08318, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2023.
    17. Vikesh Amin & Jere R. Behrman & Jason M. Fletcher & Carlos A. Flores & Alfonso Flores-Lagunes & Hans-Peter Kohler, 2022. "Does Schooling Improve Cognitive Abilities at Older Ages: Causal Evidence from Nonparametric Bounds," PIER Working Paper Archive 22-016, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    18. Fatema, Naureen, 2019. "Can land title reduce low-intensity interhousehold conflict incidences and associated damages in eastern DRC?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 1-1.
    19. Dinkelman, Taryn & Schulhofer-Wohl, Sam, 2015. "Migration, congestion externalities, and the evaluation of spatial investments," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 189-202.
    20. Millimet, Daniel L. & Roy, Jayjit, 2015. "Multilateral environmental agreements and the WTO," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 20-23.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:31:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1057_s41287-018-0166-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.