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Title Cash Transfers and Social Capital: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Malawi
Full text https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/cash-transfers-and-social-capital-evidence-from-a-randomized-cont
Date 2023
Author(s) Mesfin, Hiwot; Cecchi, Francesco
Abstract We examine the social capital implications of conditional and unconditional cash transfer (CCT) programs in Malawi, randomly assigning adolescent women and their households to either program or to a control group. Our results show that cash transfers have a positive aggregate effect on social capital, proxied by trust and gift giving. They also show positive intention-to-treat effects on both trust and gift giving in the short run but a negative spillover effect on gift giving in the long run. Moreover, we find that CCTs have greater positive effects on trust than the unconditional cash transfers (UCT). Further analyses reveal that adolescents with initial reciprocal beliefs drive the increase in trust. These results contribute to the current debate on whether CCTs or UCTs are better policy tools, adding the important 'externality' of social capital formation.
Subject(s) Life Science
Language en
Relation https://edepot.wur.nl/637378
Type of publication info:eu-repo/semantics/article; Article/Letter to editor; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Format application/pdf
Source Journal of African Economies (2023); ISSN: 0963-8024
Rights info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess; Wageningen University & Research
Identifier 10.1093/jae/ejad017
Repository Wageningen - University of Wageningen
Added to C-A: 2023-09-25;09:29:45