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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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    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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