IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/wpaper/hal-03192955.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Does Distance-Driven Information Asymmetry Affect Private Income Transfers? Theory and Evidence From Colombia

Author

Listed:
  • Carolina Alban Conto

    (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, DIAL - Développement, institutions et analyses de long terme)

Abstract

This paper investigates to what extent the distance between donors and receivers influences the responsiveness of private transfers to positive income shocks. First, I provide an original conceptual analysis that incorporates the notion that information asymmetry increases with distance and encourages donors and receivers to act strategically. Next, using evaluation data from a conditional cash transfer program in Colombia, \textit{Familias en Acción}, and implementing a difference-in-difference strategy, I test the main predictions of the underlying theoretical framework. The estimates support the idea that benefiting from a government subsidy affects transfer decisions when donors and receivers live geographically close to each other. This finding challenges the existing literature on the topic by showing that, ignoring information asymmetry can lead to erroneous interpretations of transfer-income derivatives and crowding-out effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Carolina Alban Conto, 2021. "Does Distance-Driven Information Asymmetry Affect Private Income Transfers? Theory and Evidence From Colombia," Working Papers hal-03192955, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03192955
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03192955
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-03192955/document
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Becker, Gary S, 1974. "A Theory of Social Interactions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(6), pages 1063-1093, Nov.-Dec..
    2. Barro, Robert J, 1974. "Are Government Bonds Net Wealth?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(6), pages 1095-1117, Nov.-Dec..
    3. Cox, Donald & Hansen, Bruce E. & Jimenez, Emmanuel, 2004. "How responsive are private transfers to income? Evidence from a laissez-faire economy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(9-10), pages 2193-2219, August.
    4. Catia Batista & Gaia Narciso, 2018. "Migrant Remittances and Information Flows: Evidence from a Field Experiment," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 32(1), pages 203-219.
    5. Donald Cox & Emmanuel Jimenez & Wlodek Okrasa, 1997. "Family Safety Nets And Economic Transition: A Study Of Worker Households In Poland," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 43(2), pages 191-209, June.
    6. Cox, Donald & Jimenez, Emmanuel, 1998. "Risk Sharing and Private Transfers: What about Urban Households?," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 46(3), pages 621-637, April.
    7. Cox, Donald & Fafchamps, Marcel, 2008. "Extended Family and Kinship Networks: Economic Insights and Evolutionary Directions," Handbook of Development Economics, in: T. Paul Schultz & John A. Strauss (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 58, pages 3711-3784, Elsevier.
    8. Ambler, Kate, 2015. "Don't tell on me: Experimental evidence of asymmetric information in transnational households," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 52-69.
    9. Kuhn, Randall & Stillman, Steven, 2004. "Understanding Interhousehold Transfers in a Transition Economy: Evidence from Russia," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(1), pages 131-156, October.
    10. McKenzie, David & Gibson, John & Stillman, Steven, 2013. "A land of milk and honey with streets paved with gold: Do emigrants have over-optimistic expectations about incomes abroad?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 116-127.
    11. Orazio Attanasio & Emla Fitzsimons & Ana Gómez & Martha Isabel Gutierrez & Costas Meghir & Alice Mesnard, 2006. "Child education and work choices in the presence of a conditional cash transfer programme in rural Colombia," IFS Working Papers W06/13, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    12. Maitra, Pushkar & Ray, Ranjan, 2003. "The effect of transfers on household expenditure patterns and poverty in South Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 23-49, June.
    13. Andrew D. Foster & Mark R. Rosenzweig, 2001. "Imperfect Commitment, Altruism, And The Family: Evidence From Transfer Behavior In Low-Income Rural Areas," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(3), pages 389-407, August.
    14. McKernan, Signe-Mary & Pitt, Mark M. & Moskowitz, David, 2005. "Use of the formal and informal financial sectors : does gender matter? empirical evidence from rural Bangladesh," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3491, The World Bank.
    15. Giorgio Secondi, 1997. "Private monetary transfers in rural china: Are families altruistic?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(4), pages 487-511.
    16. Pedro Albarran & Orazio P. Attanasio, 2002. "Do Public Transfers Crowd Out Private Transfers?: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Mexico," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2002-06, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Yannis M. Ioannides & Kamhon Kan, 2000. "The Nature of Two-directional Intergenerational Transfers of Money and Time: An Empirical Analysis," International Economic Association Series, in: L.-A. Gérard-Varet & S.-C. Kolm & J. Mercier Ythier (ed.), The Economics of Reciprocity, Giving and Altruism, chapter 18, pages 314-331, Palgrave Macmillan.
    18. Robert F. Schoeni, 1997. "Private Interhousehold Transfers Of Money And Time: New Empirical Evidence," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 43(4), pages 423-448, December.
    19. Cox, Donald & Jakubson, George, 1995. "The connection between public transfers and private interfamily transfers," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 129-167, May.
    20. Orazio Attanasio & Alice Mesnard, 2006. "The Impact of a Conditional Cash Transfer Programme on Consumption in Colombia," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 27(4), pages 421-442, December.
    21. Ganesh Seshan & Robertas Zubrickas, 2017. "Asymmetric Information about Migrant Earnings and Remittance Flows," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 31(1), pages 24-43.
    22. de la Briere, Benedicte & Sadoulet, Elisabeth & de Janvry, Alain & Lambert, Sylvie, 2002. "The roles of destination, gender, and household composition in explaining remittances: an analysis for the Dominican Sierra," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 309-328, August.
    23. Medina H., Fernando & Galván, Marco, 2008. "Descomposición del coeficiente de Gini por fuentes de ingreso: evidencia empírica para América Latina 1999-2005," Estudios Estadísticos 4767, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    24. Medina H., Fernando, 1999. "El ingreso y," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 31329, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    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. Wolff, Francois-Charles & Laferrere, Anne, 2006. "Microeconomic models of family transfers," Handbook on the Economics of Giving, Reciprocity and Altruism, in: S. Kolm & Jean Mercier Ythier (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Giving, Altruism and Reciprocity, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 13, pages 889-969, Elsevier.
    2. Joachim De Weerdt & Garance Genicot & Alice Mesnard, 2019. "Asymmetry of Information within Family Networks," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 54(1), pages 225-254.
    3. Nikolov, Plamen & Bonci, Matthew, 2020. "Do public program benefits crowd out private transfers in developing countries? A critical review of recent evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    4. Hungerman, Daniel M., 2014. "Public goods, hidden income, and tax evasion: Some nonstandard results from the warm-glow model," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 188-202.
    5. Pelek, Selin & Polat, Sezgin, 2019. "Exploring inter-household transfers:An assessment using panel data from Turkey," GIAM Working Papers 00-0, Galatasaray University Economic Research Center.
    6. Nakamura, Nobuyuki & Suzuki, Aya, 2022. "How Altruism Works during a Pandemic: Examining the Roles of Financial Support and Degrees of Individual Altruism on International Remittance," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322073, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    7. McKernan, Signe-Mary & Pitt, Mark M. & Moskowitz, David, 2005. "Use of the formal and informal financial sectors : does gender matter? empirical evidence from rural Bangladesh," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3491, The World Bank.
    8. Grimm, Michael & Hartwig, Renate & Reitmann, Ann-Kristin & Bocoum, Fadima Yaya, 2021. "Inter-household transfers: An empirical investigation of the income-transfer relationship with novel data from Burkina Faso," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    9. Ingela Alger & Jörgen W. Weibull, 2010. "Kinship, Incentives, and Evolution," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(4), pages 1725-1758, September.
    10. Juarez, Laura, 2009. "Crowding out of private support to the elderly: Evidence from a demogrant in Mexico," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(3-4), pages 454-463, April.
    11. Pedro Albarran & Orazio P. Attanasio, 2002. "Do Public Transfers Crowd Out Private Transfers?: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Mexico," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2002-06, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Laura Juarez, 2007. "Altruism, Exchange and Crowding Out of Private Support to the Elderly: Evidence from a Demogrant in Mexico," Working Papers 0707, Centro de Investigacion Economica, ITAM.
    13. Cox, Donald & Hansen, Bruce E. & Jimenez, Emmanuel, 2004. "How responsive are private transfers to income? Evidence from a laissez-faire economy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(9-10), pages 2193-2219, August.
    14. Edwin Fourrier-Nicolai, 2020. "How Family Transfers Crowd-out Social Assistance in Germany," AMSE Working Papers 2023, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France.
    15. Dimova, Ralitza & Wolff, François-Charles, 2008. "Are private transfers poverty and inequality reducing? Household level evidence from Bulgaria," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 584-598, December.
    16. Ongudi, Silas & Thiam, Djiby & Wagner, Natascha, 2023. "Public transfers and crowding-in and -out of private transfers: Experimental evidence from Kenya," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    17. Mitrut, Andreea & Wolff, François-Charles, 2011. "Do private and public transfers received affect life satisfaction? Evidence from Romania," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 969-979.
    18. Catia Batista & Janis Umblijs, 2016. "Do migrants send remittances as a way of self-insurance?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 68(1), pages 108-130.
    19. Hagen-Zanker, Jessica, 2010. "Modest expectations: Causes and effects of migration on migrant households in source countries," MPRA Paper 29507, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Kazianga, H., 2006. "Motives for household private transfers in Burkina Faso," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(1), pages 73-117, February.

    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:hal:wpaper:hal-03192955. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.