Cash transfers and index insurance: A comparative impact analysis from northern Kenya

Cash transfers and index insurance have become popular interventions by development agencies worldwide, yet surprisingly little is known about these programs' comparative impacts on participant behavior or well-being. This paper exploits exogenous variation in program participation and panel data fr...

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Autores principales: Jensen, Nathaniel D., Barrett, Christopher B., Mude, Andrew G.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Elsevier 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/83142
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author Jensen, Nathaniel D.
Barrett, Christopher B.
Mude, Andrew G.
author_browse Barrett, Christopher B.
Jensen, Nathaniel D.
Mude, Andrew G.
author_facet Jensen, Nathaniel D.
Barrett, Christopher B.
Mude, Andrew G.
author_sort Jensen, Nathaniel D.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Cash transfers and index insurance have become popular interventions by development agencies worldwide, yet surprisingly little is known about these programs' comparative impacts on participant behavior or well-being. This paper exploits exogenous variation in program participation and panel data from Kenya to compare the causal impacts of a cash transfer program (HSNP) and an index-based insurance product (IBLI), which were implemented contemporaneously among the same population. We find that both programs benefit clients. HSNP improves child health, as measured by mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), and helps households maintain their mobility-dependent livestock production strategies. Households with IBLI coverage make productivity increasing investments, reduce distress sales of livestock during droughts, and see a marked increase in income per adult equivalent. Estimating the impacts per total program costs reveals that the two programs perform comparably on average, while IBLI's impacts per unit marginal cost are considerably larger than HSNP's.
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spelling CGSpace831422023-12-08T19:36:04Z Cash transfers and index insurance: A comparative impact analysis from northern Kenya Jensen, Nathaniel D. Barrett, Christopher B. Mude, Andrew G. insurance livestock pastoralism Cash transfers and index insurance have become popular interventions by development agencies worldwide, yet surprisingly little is known about these programs' comparative impacts on participant behavior or well-being. This paper exploits exogenous variation in program participation and panel data from Kenya to compare the causal impacts of a cash transfer program (HSNP) and an index-based insurance product (IBLI), which were implemented contemporaneously among the same population. We find that both programs benefit clients. HSNP improves child health, as measured by mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), and helps households maintain their mobility-dependent livestock production strategies. Households with IBLI coverage make productivity increasing investments, reduce distress sales of livestock during droughts, and see a marked increase in income per adult equivalent. Estimating the impacts per total program costs reveals that the two programs perform comparably on average, while IBLI's impacts per unit marginal cost are considerably larger than HSNP's. 2017-11 2017-08-15T08:10:47Z 2017-08-15T08:10:47Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/83142 en Limited Access Elsevier Jensen, N.D., Barrett, C.B. and Mude, A.G. 2017. Cash transfers and index insurance: A comparative impact analysis from northern Kenya. Journal of Development Economics. 129(1): 14-28.
spellingShingle insurance
livestock
pastoralism
Jensen, Nathaniel D.
Barrett, Christopher B.
Mude, Andrew G.
Cash transfers and index insurance: A comparative impact analysis from northern Kenya
title Cash transfers and index insurance: A comparative impact analysis from northern Kenya
title_full Cash transfers and index insurance: A comparative impact analysis from northern Kenya
title_fullStr Cash transfers and index insurance: A comparative impact analysis from northern Kenya
title_full_unstemmed Cash transfers and index insurance: A comparative impact analysis from northern Kenya
title_short Cash transfers and index insurance: A comparative impact analysis from northern Kenya
title_sort cash transfers and index insurance a comparative impact analysis from northern kenya
topic insurance
livestock
pastoralism
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/83142
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AT barrettchristopherb cashtransfersandindexinsuranceacomparativeimpactanalysisfromnorthernkenya
AT mudeandrewg cashtransfersandindexinsuranceacomparativeimpactanalysisfromnorthernkenya