Home
Behaviorally Informed Organizations
Cash Transfers for Inclusive Societies

Cash Transfers for Inclusive Societies

A Behavioral Lens

Edited by Jiaying Zhao, Saugato Datta and Dilip Soman

Published by: University of Toronto Press

Series: Behaviorally Informed Organizations

Imprint: Rotman-UTP Publishing

1 b&w illustration, 1 b&w map, 29 b&w figures, 15 b&w tables

Digital download
9781487549473
Published: October 2023

Digital download
9781487547851
Published: October 2023

Description
Contents
Authors

The latest title in the Behaviourally Informed Organizations series offers practical advice on how best to successfully design, deliver, and evaluate efficient cash transfer programs, with a view to alleviating poverty.

While much progress has been made in reducing poverty worldwide – especially in the pre-pandemic era – it is fair to say that an unacceptably large proportion of the world’s people still live in poverty. Cash Transfers for Inclusive Societies sheds light on the widely prevalent cash transfer programs. The book asks these central questions: What is the state of the art in the development of welfare programs? What do we know works in these programs and what does not? How can an understanding of behavioral science better inform the design, delivery, and evaluation of welfare programs?

The latest title in the Behaviourally Informed Organizations series, the book develops a nuanced framework for how governments, practitioners, and society in general should design cash transfer programs to improve inclusivity, reduce poverty, and improve equality. It draws on field experiments and case studies to showcase past successes, while also building frameworks and developing prescriptive advice that we can give to practitioners who are looking to design a behaviorally informed cash transfer program. With contributions from leading academics as well as seasoned practitioners, Cash Transfers for Inclusive Societies presents a new model to policymakers to study and shift the discourse on poverty alleviation from purely economic factors to also behavioral ones.

Acknowledgments

Introduction
Dilip Soman, Saugato Datta and Jiaying Zhao

Part 1: Why Behavioral Science Matters for Inclusive Societies

1. A Comparison of Cash Transfer Programs in the Global North and South
Ryan Dwyer, Kaitlyn Stewart, and Jiaying Zhao

2. Innovate, Adapt, and Scale: The Future of Behavioral Science in Cash Transfer Programs
Saugato Datta, Faraz Haqqi, Mukta Joshi, and Catherine MacLeod

3. Reaching the Hardest to Reach with Cash Transfer and Disbursement Programs
Kyle Jacques, Marin MacLeod, Sydney Piggott, and Kevin Yin

4. Behavioral Insights Can Help Improve Cash Transfer Programs
Daniella Turetski and Renos Vakis

5. What Do We Know about Basic Income – And How Can Experiments Help?
Evelyn L. Forget

Part 2: Behavioral Science in Design and Delivery

6. The Effect of Design Features on the Effectiveness of Cash Transfer Programs: A Behavioral Perspective
Daniella Turetski, Xiao (Mimosa) Zhao, Oceana Ding, Waleed Hussain, Sherry Ning, and Dilip Soman

7. Don’t Waste Recipients’ Time: How to Save and Give Time in Cash Transfer Programs
Colin West and Ashley Whillans

8. A Behavioral Perspective on the Decision to Seek Formal and Informal Financial Help
Ania Jaroszewicz

9. Cash to US Families at Scale: Behavioral Insights on Implementation from the Baby’s First Years Study
Lisa A. Gennetian, Sarah Halpern-Meekin, Lauren Meyer, Nathan A. Fox, Katherine Magnuson, Kimberly G. Noble, and Hirokazu Yoshikawa

10. Improving the Effectiveness of Cash Transfer Programs in Kenya
John Gachigi

Part 3: Conclusions

11. Cash Transfer Programs – Looking Back, Looking Forward
Saugato Datta, Jiaying Zhao, and Dilip Soman

Contributors
Index

Jiaying Zhao is the Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Sustainability and an associate professor in the Department of Psychology and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia..

Saugato Datta is Senior Advisor, Global Development at ideas42, Co-Founder, and Principal at Venn Advisors, an applied behavioral science collective, and Professor of the Practice at Tufts University.

Dilip Soman is the Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Behavioural Science and Economics, a professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, and the director of Behavioural Economics in Action at Rotman (BEAR) research centre.