Food aid and informal insurance

Arbeitspapier

Households in developing countries use a variety of informal mechanisms to cope with risk, including mutual support and risk-sharing. These mechanisms cannot avoid that they remain vulnerable to shocks. Public programs in the form of food aid distribution and food-for-work programs are meant to protect vulnerable households from consumption and nutrition downturns by providing a safety net. In this paper we look into the extent to which food aid helps to smooth consumption by reducing the impact of negative shocks, taking into account informal risk-sharing arrangements. Using panel data from Ethiopia, we find that despite relatively poor targeting of the food aid, the programs contribute to better consumption outcomes, largely via intra-village risk sharing.

Angaben zum Objekt

• ISBN: 9291904015
• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Series: WIDER Discussion Paper ; No. 2003/09

Klassifikation und Themen

• Klassifikation: Wirtschaft ; Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making‡ ; Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty: Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs ; Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
• Thema: risk-sharing ; informal insurance ; safety nets ; food aid ; Nahrungsmittelhilfe ; Äthiopien ; Soziales Netzwerk

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): Dercon, Stefan ; Krishnan, Pramila
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wer): The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)
• (wo): Helsinki
• (wann): 2003

Weitere Informationen

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/52761
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 10.03.2025, 11:43 MEZ