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The Effect of Gender-Targeted Transfers: Experimental Evidence From India

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  • Almås, Ingvild

    (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration)

  • Somville, Vincent

    (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration)

  • Vandewalle, Lore

    (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration)

Abstract

Women are the primary recipients of many welfare programs around the world. Despite frequent claims that targeting women induces beneficial consumption shifting and gender equality, the empirical evidence on the effect of targeting is relatively scarce. We report on a highly powered intervention that randomly allocates weekly transfers to a man or woman within the household. We use detailed financial diaries to look at the impact of the recipient's gender on expenditure, income, saving, nutrition and measures of decision-making. Our results show little evidence for consumption shifting at the household level but indicate that targeted transfers empower female recipients.

Suggested Citation

  • Almås, Ingvild & Somville, Vincent & Vandewalle, Lore, 2020. "The Effect of Gender-Targeted Transfers: Experimental Evidence From India," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 16/2020, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:nhheco:2020_016
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    Cited by:

    1. Lindahl, Erica & Rosenqvist, Olof & Selin, Håkan, 2023. "Gender-targeted transfers by default? - Evidence from a child allowance reform in Sweden," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Households; Consumption; Development; Gender Inequality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General

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