Targeting hunger or votes? The political economy of humanitarian transfers in Malawi
Do electoral considerations play a role in the targeting of humanitarian transfers? We analyze the targeting of direct cash and food transfers distributed in Malawi in response to an exceptionally poor harvest following a late and erratic rainy season of 2015/16. Combining household survey data on t...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2023
|
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/128077 |
| _version_ | 1855519338808737792 |
|---|---|
| author | Duchoslav, Jan Kenamu, Edwin Thunde, Jack |
| author_browse | Duchoslav, Jan Kenamu, Edwin Thunde, Jack |
| author_facet | Duchoslav, Jan Kenamu, Edwin Thunde, Jack |
| author_sort | Duchoslav, Jan |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Do electoral considerations play a role in the targeting of humanitarian transfers? We analyze the targeting of direct cash and food transfers distributed in Malawi in response to an exceptionally poor harvest following a late and erratic rainy season of 2015/16. Combining household survey data on transfers with a remotely sensed measure of drought and with the results of the 2014 and 2019 parliamentary elections, we show that transfers were disproportionately targeted at marginal constituencies. Rather than distributing the transfers based solely on need or mobilizing its tribal base, the government attempted to persuade swing voters to support its candidates in the next elections. We find no evidence that this strategy was successful at increasing the vote of ruling party candidates in subsequent elections. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace128077 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publishDateRange | 2023 |
| publishDateSort | 2023 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| publisherStr | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1280772025-10-26T13:02:00Z Targeting hunger or votes? The political economy of humanitarian transfers in Malawi Duchoslav, Jan Kenamu, Edwin Thunde, Jack Do electoral considerations play a role in the targeting of humanitarian transfers? We analyze the targeting of direct cash and food transfers distributed in Malawi in response to an exceptionally poor harvest following a late and erratic rainy season of 2015/16. Combining household survey data on transfers with a remotely sensed measure of drought and with the results of the 2014 and 2019 parliamentary elections, we show that transfers were disproportionately targeted at marginal constituencies. Rather than distributing the transfers based solely on need or mobilizing its tribal base, the government attempted to persuade swing voters to support its candidates in the next elections. We find no evidence that this strategy was successful at increasing the vote of ruling party candidates in subsequent elections. 2023-05 2023-01-24T15:59:36Z 2023-01-24T15:59:36Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/128077 en https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/125315 Open Access Elsevier Duchoslav, Jan; Kenamu, Edwin; and Thunde, Jack. 2023. Targeting hunger or votes? The political economy of humanitarian transfers in Malawi. World Development 165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106179 |
| spellingShingle | Duchoslav, Jan Kenamu, Edwin Thunde, Jack Targeting hunger or votes? The political economy of humanitarian transfers in Malawi |
| title | Targeting hunger or votes? The political economy of humanitarian transfers in Malawi |
| title_full | Targeting hunger or votes? The political economy of humanitarian transfers in Malawi |
| title_fullStr | Targeting hunger or votes? The political economy of humanitarian transfers in Malawi |
| title_full_unstemmed | Targeting hunger or votes? The political economy of humanitarian transfers in Malawi |
| title_short | Targeting hunger or votes? The political economy of humanitarian transfers in Malawi |
| title_sort | targeting hunger or votes the political economy of humanitarian transfers in malawi |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/128077 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT duchoslavjan targetinghungerorvotesthepoliticaleconomyofhumanitariantransfersinmalawi AT kenamuedwin targetinghungerorvotesthepoliticaleconomyofhumanitariantransfersinmalawi AT thundejack targetinghungerorvotesthepoliticaleconomyofhumanitariantransfersinmalawi |