Efficiency and Equity of Input Subsidies : Experimental Evidence from Tanzania

Input subsidy programs (ISP) often have two conflicting targeting goals: selecting individuals with the highest marginal return to inputs on efficiency grounds, or the poorest individuals on equity grounds, allowing for a secondary market to restore efficiency gains. To study this targeting dilemma,...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Gine, Xavier, Patel, Shreena, Ribeiro, Bernardo, Valley, Ildrim
Format:	Journal Article
Published:	Washington, DC: World Bank 2022
Subjects:	FERTILIZER INPUT SUBSIDIES TRADEOFF
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37122

id	okr-10986-37122
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-371222022-03-12T05:10:33Z Efficiency and Equity of Input Subsidies : Experimental Evidence from Tanzania Gine, Xavier Patel, Shreena Ribeiro, Bernardo Valley, Ildrim FERTILIZER INPUT SUBSIDIES TRADEOFF Input subsidy programs (ISP) often have two conflicting targeting goals: selecting individuals with the highest marginal return to inputs on efficiency grounds, or the poorest individuals on equity grounds, allowing for a secondary market to restore efficiency gains. To study this targeting dilemma, we implement a field experiment where beneficiaries of an ISP were selected via a lottery or a local committee. In lottery villages, we find evidence of displacement of private fertilizer and of a secondary market as beneficiaries are more likely to sell inputs to non-beneficiaries. In contrast, in non-lottery villages we find no evidence of displacement nor of elite capture. The impacts of the ISP on agricultural productivity and welfare are limited, suggesting that resources should be directed at complementary investments, such as improving soil quality and irrigation. 2022-03-11T06:58:35Z 2022-03-11T06:58:35Z 2019-01-01 Journal Article American Journal of Agricultural Economics 1467-8276 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37122 CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Washington, DC: World Bank Publications & Research :: Journal Article Tanzania
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
topic	FERTILIZER INPUT SUBSIDIES TRADEOFF
spellingShingle	FERTILIZER INPUT SUBSIDIES TRADEOFF Gine, Xavier Patel, Shreena Ribeiro, Bernardo Valley, Ildrim Efficiency and Equity of Input Subsidies : Experimental Evidence from Tanzania
geographic_facet	Tanzania
description	Input subsidy programs (ISP) often have two conflicting targeting goals: selecting individuals with the highest marginal return to inputs on efficiency grounds, or the poorest individuals on equity grounds, allowing for a secondary market to restore efficiency gains. To study this targeting dilemma, we implement a field experiment where beneficiaries of an ISP were selected via a lottery or a local committee. In lottery villages, we find evidence of displacement of private fertilizer and of a secondary market as beneficiaries are more likely to sell inputs to non-beneficiaries. In contrast, in non-lottery villages we find no evidence of displacement nor of elite capture. The impacts of the ISP on agricultural productivity and welfare are limited, suggesting that resources should be directed at complementary investments, such as improving soil quality and irrigation.
format	Journal Article
author	Gine, Xavier Patel, Shreena Ribeiro, Bernardo Valley, Ildrim
author_facet	Gine, Xavier Patel, Shreena Ribeiro, Bernardo Valley, Ildrim
author_sort	Gine, Xavier
title	Efficiency and Equity of Input Subsidies : Experimental Evidence from Tanzania
title_short	Efficiency and Equity of Input Subsidies : Experimental Evidence from Tanzania
title_full	Efficiency and Equity of Input Subsidies : Experimental Evidence from Tanzania
title_fullStr	Efficiency and Equity of Input Subsidies : Experimental Evidence from Tanzania
title_full_unstemmed	Efficiency and Equity of Input Subsidies : Experimental Evidence from Tanzania
title_sort	efficiency and equity of input subsidies : experimental evidence from tanzania
publisher	Washington, DC: World Bank
publishDate	2022
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37122
_version_	1764486593775665152

Efficiency and Equity of Input Subsidies : Experimental Evidence from Tanzania

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