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Despite recent calls in support of cash transfers, there is little rigorous evidence of the relative impacts of cash versus in-kind transfers, especially in humanitarian contexts, where a majority of such programs take place. This paper uses data from a randomized experiment in the Democratic Republic of Congo to assess the relative impacts and costs of equivalently valued cash and voucher transfers. The voucher program distorted households' purchases along both the extensive and intensive margin as compared with unconstrained cash households. Yet there were no differences in food consumption or other measures of well-being, in part due to the fact that voucher households were able to resell part of what they purchased. As there were no significant benefits to vouchers, cash transfers were the more cost effective modality for both the implementing agency and program recipients in this context.

Cash transfers --- Communities & human settlements --- Democratic republic of congo --- Economic theory & research --- Food & beverage industry --- Housing & human habitats --- Impact evaluation in-kind transfers --- Industry --- Macroeconomics and economic growth --- Poverty reduction --- Rural poverty reduction --- Small area estimation poverty mapps --- Vouchers

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Despite recent calls in support of cash transfers, there is little rigorous evidence of the relative impacts of cash versus in-kind transfers, especially in humanitarian contexts, where a majority of such programs take place. This paper uses data from a randomized experiment in the Democratic Republic of Congo to assess the relative impacts and costs of equivalently valued cash and voucher transfers. The voucher program distorted households' purchases along both the extensive and intensive margin as compared with unconstrained cash households. Yet there were no differences in food consumption or other measures of well-being, in part due to the fact that voucher households were able to resell part of what they purchased. As there were no significant benefits to vouchers, cash transfers were the more cost effective modality for both the implementing agency and program recipients in this context.

Cash transfers --- Communities & human settlements --- Democratic republic of congo --- Economic theory & research --- Food & beverage industry --- Housing & human habitats --- Impact evaluation in-kind transfers --- Industry --- Macroeconomics and economic growth --- Poverty reduction --- Rural poverty reduction --- Small area estimation poverty mapps --- Vouchers

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Small area poverty maps allow for the design of policies based on spatial differences in welfare. They are typically estimated based on a consumption survey reporting on poverty and a census providing the spatial disaggregation. This paper presents a new method which allows for the estimation of up-to-date small area poverty maps when only a dated census and a more recent survey are available and predictors and structural parameters are subject to drift over time, a situation commonly encountered in practice. Instead of using survey variables to explain consumption in the survey, the new approach uses variables constructed from the census. The proposed estimator has fewer data requirements and weaker assumptions than common small area poverty map estimators. Applications to simulated data and to poverty estimation in Brazil show an overall good performance.

Censuses --- Education --- Educational Sciences --- Employment and Unemployment --- Inequality --- Population Estimates --- Poverty --- Poverty Assessment --- Poverty Diagnostics --- Poverty Impact Evaluation --- Poverty Lines --- Poverty Monitoring and Analysis --- Poverty Reduction --- Small Area Estimation --- Small Area Estimation Poverty Mapps --- Social Protections and Labor