Events at CERGE-EI

Denni Tommasi, Ph.D.

ECARES, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

Author: Denni Tommasi

Abstract: I combine structural and reduced-form identification techniques to estimate the effects of controlling individual resources on household demand for food. Exploiting random assignment of the Mexican PROGRESA program as an instrument for maternal control of resources, I show that mothers having majority control of household resources relative to fathers increase food consumption as a share of the household budget by 6.5-8.3 percent. I use these estimates to argue that, by knowing (i) the distribution of pre-program resources inside the household, and (ii) how much influence each decision maker can have on the desired policy outcome, a policymaker can improve the cost-effectiveness of a cash transfer program by targeting the cash to resource shares in addition to gender.

Full Text:  “Control of Resources and Demand for Food”