Aspiring to more? New evidence on the effect of light-touch aspirations interventions in rural Ethiopia

A growing literature in economics has analysed the effects of psychological interventions designed to boost individual aspirations as a strategy to increase households’ propensity to make long-term investments and thus reduce poverty. This paper reports on a randomised controlled trial evaluating a...

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Main Authors: Leight, Jessica, Gilligan, Daniel O., Mulford, Michael, Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum, Tambet, Heleene
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Informa UK Limited 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140730
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author Leight, Jessica
Gilligan, Daniel O.
Mulford, Michael
Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum
Tambet, Heleene
author_browse Gilligan, Daniel O.
Leight, Jessica
Mulford, Michael
Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum
Tambet, Heleene
author_facet Leight, Jessica
Gilligan, Daniel O.
Mulford, Michael
Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum
Tambet, Heleene
author_sort Leight, Jessica
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description A growing literature in economics has analysed the effects of psychological interventions designed to boost individual aspirations as a strategy to increase households’ propensity to make long-term investments and thus reduce poverty. This paper reports on a randomised controlled trial evaluating a short video-based intervention designed to increase aspirations of adults in poor rural Ethiopian households who are beneficiaries of the Productive Safety Net Program, the main government safety net program in Ethiopia. Evidence from a sample of 5,258 adults from 3,220 households is consistent with the hypothesis that there are no significant effects of the intervention on self-reported aspirations for the household, educational investment in children, or savings nine months post-treatment. This suggests that the effect of light-touch aspirations treatments for extremely poor adults may be limited in this context.
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spelling CGSpace1407302025-10-26T12:50:50Z Aspiring to more? New evidence on the effect of light-touch aspirations interventions in rural Ethiopia Leight, Jessica Gilligan, Daniel O. Mulford, Michael Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum Tambet, Heleene economic aspects psychology investment poverty social safety nets A growing literature in economics has analysed the effects of psychological interventions designed to boost individual aspirations as a strategy to increase households’ propensity to make long-term investments and thus reduce poverty. This paper reports on a randomised controlled trial evaluating a short video-based intervention designed to increase aspirations of adults in poor rural Ethiopian households who are beneficiaries of the Productive Safety Net Program, the main government safety net program in Ethiopia. Evidence from a sample of 5,258 adults from 3,220 households is consistent with the hypothesis that there are no significant effects of the intervention on self-reported aspirations for the household, educational investment in children, or savings nine months post-treatment. This suggests that the effect of light-touch aspirations treatments for extremely poor adults may be limited in this context. 2024-10 2024-04-02T20:17:09Z 2024-04-02T20:17:09Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140730 en https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2024.2308579 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2021.102212 https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13576 https://www.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-069939 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114708 Open Access Informa UK Limited Leight, Jessica; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Mulford, Michael; Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum; and Tambet, Heleene. Aspiring to more? New evidence on the effect of light-touch aspirations interventions in rural Ethiopia. Journal of Development Effectiveness 16(4): 485-498. https://doi.org/10.1080/19439342.2024.2334214
spellingShingle economic aspects
psychology
investment
poverty
social safety nets
Leight, Jessica
Gilligan, Daniel O.
Mulford, Michael
Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum
Tambet, Heleene
Aspiring to more? New evidence on the effect of light-touch aspirations interventions in rural Ethiopia
title Aspiring to more? New evidence on the effect of light-touch aspirations interventions in rural Ethiopia
title_full Aspiring to more? New evidence on the effect of light-touch aspirations interventions in rural Ethiopia
title_fullStr Aspiring to more? New evidence on the effect of light-touch aspirations interventions in rural Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Aspiring to more? New evidence on the effect of light-touch aspirations interventions in rural Ethiopia
title_short Aspiring to more? New evidence on the effect of light-touch aspirations interventions in rural Ethiopia
title_sort aspiring to more new evidence on the effect of light touch aspirations interventions in rural ethiopia
topic economic aspects
psychology
investment
poverty
social safety nets
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140730
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