Beneficiary views on cash and in-kind payments: Evidence from Ethiopia’s productive safety net programme

dc.creatorHirvonen, Kalle
dc.creatorHoddinott, John F.
dc.date2020-03-01
dc.date2024-05-22T12:10:13Z
dc.date2024-05-22T12:10:13Z
dc.date.accessioned2026-06-27T14:59:13Z
dc.descriptionEconomists often default to the assumption that cash is always preferable to an in-kind transfer. Do beneficiaries feel the same way? This paper addresses this issue using longitudinal household data from Ethiopia where a large-scale social safety net intervention (PSNP) operates. Even though most payments are made in cash, and even though the (temporal) transaction costs associated with food payments are higher than payments received as cash, most beneficiaries stated that they prefer their payments only or partly in food. Higher food prices induce shifts in stated preferences towards in-kind transfers. More food secure households, those closer to food markets and to financial services are more likely to prefer cash. Though shifts occur, the stated preference for food is dominant: In no year do more than 17 percent of households prefer only cash. There is suggestive evidence that stated preferences for food are also driven by self-control concerns.
dc.identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/142253
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/91246
dc.languageen
dc.publisherWorld Bank
dc.relationhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/145532
dc.relationhttps://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhaa002
dc.rightsOpen Access
dc.sourceHirvonen, Kalle; and Hoddinott, John F. 2020. Beneficiary views on cash and in-kind payments: Evidence from Ethiopia’s productive safety net programme. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 9125. https://hdl.handle.net/10986/33261
dc.subjectprogrammes
dc.subjectaid programmes
dc.subjecthouseholds
dc.subjectfood access
dc.subjectfood security
dc.subjectcash flow
dc.subjectsocial safety nets
dc.subjectfood aid
dc.titleBeneficiary views on cash and in-kind payments: Evidence from Ethiopia’s productive safety net programme
dc.typeWorking Paper

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