The Impact of Emergency Cash Assistance in a Pandemic: Experimental Evidence from Colombia

We study the impact of money on households during the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, Colombia rolled out a new unconditional cash transfer (UCT) to 1 million households in poverty worth US$19 (PPP US$55.6) and paid every five to eight weeks. Using a randomized control trial and linked administrat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The review of economics and statistics 2022-01, Vol.104 (1), p.157-165
Main Authors: Londoño-Vélez, Juliana, Querubín, Pablo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antipoverty programs
Clinical trials
Cooperation
COVID-19
Healthy food
Households
Money
Pandemics
Poverty
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Summary:We study the impact of money on households during the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, Colombia rolled out a new unconditional cash transfer (UCT) to 1 million households in poverty worth US$19 (PPP US$55.6) and paid every five to eight weeks. Using a randomized control trial and linked administrative and survey data, we find the UCT had positive (albeit modest) effects on measures of household well-being (e.g., financial health, food access). Moreover, the UCT boosted support for emergency assistance to households and firms during the crisis and promoted social cooperation. Finally, we explore the bottlenecks in expanding mobile money during a pandemic.
ISSN:0034-6535
1530-9142
DOI:10.1162/rest_a_01043