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 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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Format: | Journal Article biblioteca |
Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2017-11
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Subjects: | insurance, livestock, pastoralism, |
Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/83142 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2017.08.002 |
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dig-cgspace-10568-831422023-12-08T19:36:04Z 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 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. 0304-3878 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/83142 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2017.08.002 en Copyrighted; all rights reserved Limited Access p. 14-28 Elsevier Journal of Development Economics |
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insurance livestock pastoralism insurance livestock pastoralism Jensen, Nathaniel D. Barrett, Christopher B. Mude, Andrew G. Cash transfers and index insurance: A comparative impact analysis from northern Kenya |
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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. |
format |
Journal Article |
topic_facet |
insurance livestock pastoralism |
author |
Jensen, Nathaniel D. Barrett, Christopher B. Mude, Andrew G. |
author_facet |
Jensen, Nathaniel D. Barrett, Christopher B. Mude, Andrew G. |
author_sort |
Jensen, Nathaniel D. |
title |
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_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_sort |
cash transfers and index insurance: a comparative impact analysis from northern kenya |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2017-11 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/83142 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2017.08.002 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT jensennathanield cashtransfersandindexinsuranceacomparativeimpactanalysisfromnorthernkenya AT barrettchristopherb cashtransfersandindexinsuranceacomparativeimpactanalysisfromnorthernkenya AT mudeandrewg cashtransfersandindexinsuranceacomparativeimpactanalysisfromnorthernkenya |
_version_ |
1787230250463133696 |