Suchergebnisse

Farmer groups are the cornerstone of many agricultural projects in low income countries. The success of such projects crucially depends on the ability of group members to cooperate. We conducted a series of public goods experiments to study within-group cooperation in Malawian farmer groups. We combine results from these experiments with survey data and qualitative interviews. Our results shed light on the heterogeneous capacity of groups to cooperate. We find that democratically run groups, in particular those with close social ties, are more cooperative compared to groups with leader-driven decision-making. Focus groups indicate that this democracy is deliberative in nature, characterized by open discussion that aggregates preferences, increases common knowledge, and creates goodwill. A second set of experiments in which we experimentally vary the decision-making processes yields quantitatively similar results in arbitrary groupings of farmers and null results in pre-existing groups with established decision-making procedures, demonstrating the stickiness of institutional rules. Our results imply that group formation and functioning needs to be included in the design phase of agricultural projects in low income countries.

We study whether Honduran children exposed to a conditional cash transfer program from 2000-2005 experiencelasting effects on human capital and labor market outcomes in early adulthood. The government randomlyassigned three forms of delivering program benefits across targeted municipalities: demand (vouchers), supply(clinic and school subsidies), and a combination of both. This program provides an opportunity to explore ifand how differential exposure to incentives produces longer term effects. Using municipal-level panel data, theseeffects are estimated using difference-in-differences. We find that the form of delivering cash transfers influencesthe degree to which these programs make progress towards their objective of reducing future poverty. Comparedto municipalities receiving support from the Honduran Poverty Reduction Strategy, our study indicates thatexposure to demand-side incentives individually has no lasting impact. However, joint exposure to both demand-and supply-side incentives does lead to measurable improvements in schooling and labor market participation. ; Este trabajo investiga si niños que recibieron transferencias monetarias condicionadas durante la primaria en Honduras muestran un mejor desempeño educativo y laboral en su juventud. El Gobierno asignó tres formas de entregar las transferencias: incentivos a la demanda (vouchers), incentivos a la oferta (subsidios a centros de salud y escuelas) y ambas juntas. Este programa permite explorar la efectividad de distintos mecanismos para la entrega de subsidios una década después del comienzo del programa. Utilizando datos longitudinales a nivel municipal, estimamos los efectos del programa por el método de diferencias en diferencias. Encontramos que la forma de entregar las transferencias condicionadas afecta la efectividad de estos programas para lograr su objetivo de reducir la pobreza intergeneracional. En comparación con municipios que recibieron programas de la Estrategia para la Reducción de la Pobreza, nuestro trabajo indica que recibir incentivos adicionales a la demanda no tiene impacto duradero. Sin embargo, recibir ambos incentivos juntos ¿demanda y oferta¿ genera mejorías significativas en los resultados educativos y laborales más de una década después del inicio del programa.