Poverty Alleviation and Public Policy: Three Essays on Impact of Cash Transfers on Food Insecurity, Life Satisfaction and Informal Transfers

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  • March 19, 2019
Creator
  • Bhalla, Garima
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Public Policy
Abstract
  • This dissertation investigates non-obvious ways in which social programs can affect households such as resilience, psychosocial wellbeing and social capital. I use quasi-randomized longitudinal data collected for the evaluation of Zimbabwe’s Harmonized Social Cash Transfer (HSCT) Program. The HSCT is an unconditional cash transfer program targeted to ultra-poor households who are food poor and labor constrained. Data was collected through a detailed household survey, conducted at baseline and 12-month follow-up. The first paper shows that aggregate food consumption hides dynamic activity taking place within the household. In addition, I find that several dimensions of household vulnerability correlate more strongly with an experiential food security measurer, than with aggregate food consumption. My second paper finds that the impact of the cash transfer on subjective wellbeing is partially mediated through food security, but social participation measures indicate null to negligible mediation. Qualitative data reveal that while the cash transfer enables beneficiaries to be active participants in their communities, it also leads to tension between beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. In the third paper, I investigate if the HSCT crowded-out inter-household transfers, that are gifts in cash or kind, provided to a household through informal sources, such as neighbors, friends, and extended family. I find that the program does not crowd-out informal inter-household transfers. Other mechanisms by which poor households manage risk and cope with liquidity constraints include contributions made to social networks or the ability to take out a loan. I do not find any impact of the Program on loans and amount outstanding of the beneficiary. However, number of households making contributions and the value of these contributions has increased, especially for female-respondent households.
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  • In Copyright
Advisor
  • Peter, Klara
  • Handa, Sudhanshu
  • Angeles, Gustavo
  • Moulton, Jeremy
  • Durrance, Christine
Degree
  • Doctor of Philosophy
Degree granting institution
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Graduate School
Graduation year
  • 2017
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