How big does a big push need to be? Evidence from experimental variation in the size of asset transfers
The DEMS Economics Seminar series is proud to host
Christine Valente
(University of Bristol)
with R. Assaad, A. Osman and W. Parienté
ABSTRACT
Poverty is persistent but the evidence regarding the existence of poverty traps is mixed. In the presence of a poverty trap, only cost-intensive "big push" interventions such as the increasingly popular poverty graduation model can durably improve living standards. We carry out a cluster-randomized trial of a graduation program in Upper-Egypt varying experimentally the size of the transfer (between full and half transfer), and evaluate these interventions up to 40 months after the start of the intervention. Positive impacts on asset ownership, consumption and food security are sustained over time and remain sizeable at the 40-month mark, for both half- and full-transfer beneficiaries. A test comparing the effect of the half- and full-transfer treatments at different points in the baseline asset distribution yields no support for the presence of a poverty trap in our context.
The seminar will be in presence, Seminar Room 2104, Building U7-2nd floor