Shortening the path to productive investment: Evidence from input fairs and cash transfers in Malawi

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Development Economics
Year: 2024
Volume: 170
Issue: C

Authors (6)

Aggarwal, Shilpa (not in RePEc) Jeong, Dahyeon (not in RePEc) Kumar, Naresh (not in RePEc) Park, David Sungho (Korea Development Institute (K...) Robinson, Jonathan (University of California-Santa...) Spearot, Alan (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

0.670 = (α=2.01 / 6 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

While cash transfers consistently show large effects on immediate outcomes like consumption, limited access to markets may mute their impact on productive investment. In an experiment in Malawi, we cross-cut cash transfers with an “input fair”, designed to reduce transport costs to access agricultural inputs. Cash alone increases investment by 27%, while the joint provision of cash and the input fair increases investment by about 40%; thus, the incremental effect of the input fair is equivalent to about a 50% increase compared to the effect of cash alone. Input fairs alone were ineffective.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:deveco:v:170:y:2024:i:c:s0304387824000373
Journal Field
Development
Author Count
6
Added to Database
2026-01-28