Publication: Our Daily Bread : What is the Evidence on Comparing Cash versus Food Transfers?
Date
2014-07
ISSN
Published
2014-07
Author(s)
Abstract
This paper reviews key issues in the
'cash versus food' debate, including as they
relate to political economy, theory, evidence, and practice.
In doing so, it benefited from a new generation of 12 impact
evaluations deliberately comparing alternative transfer
modalities. Findings show that differences in effectiveness
vary by indicator, although they tend to be moderate on
average. In some cases differences are more marked (i.e.,
food consumption and calorie availability), but in most
instances they are not statistically significant. In
general, transfers' performance and their difference
seem a function of the organic and fluid interactions among
factors like the profile and 'initial conditions'
of beneficiaries, the capacity of local markets, and program
objectives and design. Costs associated with cash transfers
and vouchers tend to be substantially lower relative to
food. Yet methods for cost-effectiveness analysis vary and
need to be more standardized and nuanced. The reviewed
evaluations are helping to shift the debate from one shaped
by ideology, political economy and 'inference' of
evidence to one centering on robust and context-specific results.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Gentilini, Ugo. 2014. Our Daily Bread : What is the Evidence on Comparing Cash versus Food Transfers?. Social protection and labor discussion paper;no. 1420. © World Bank Group, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19981 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”