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Title
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Exploring the sustainability of the collective-level effects of cash transfers : insights from universal unconditional CT programs in rural Western Uganda
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Author
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Abstract
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| Cash transfers (CTs) are social assistance instruments which have been increasingly utilized, in recent years, as poverty, vulnerability, and inequality reduction tools, in the Global South. Coherently, a growing number of empirical sources have been produced with respect to the impacts of CTs on a wide variety of outcomes. The available evidence suggests that cash transfers’ benefits can and do often extend beyond mere temporary poverty alleviation. Nevertheless, there are several domains associated with the assessment of CTs’ performance that have been overlooked and are still underresearched, allowing us to detect a few major investigation gaps which represent the main objectives of this doctoral dissertation. First, the pieces of evidence published so far mostly focus on cash transfer effects at the individual- and household-levels, leaving the collective (or community) dimension out. However, since CTs are pervasive interventions in recipients’ lives, they can profoundly shape and affect beneficiary communities, and yield numerous collective-level effects. Second, another fundamental breach in the empirical literature is represented by its typical failure to capture the sustainability of CT effects, namely the extent to which they persist in the long run, after program end. Producing additional related evidence is not only important per se, but especially because of its connections with the increasingly relevant debates on the ‘transformative’ potential of cash transfers (and social protection programs, more in general), in times of overlapping social and economic crises (e.g., conflict, automation, and climate change). In this context, we follow the trajectories of two universal unconditional – as such, Universal Basic Income (UBI) trials – cash transfer initiatives conducted in rural Western Uganda, evaluating their impacts on collective-level outcomes (operationalized as social capital, agency and collective action), and their overall sustainability, especially on domains (including citizenship, labour, and resilience to climate change) closely intertwined with discussions on the transformational role of social protection. To this purpose, we adopt a mostly quantitative approach, relying on quasi-experimental impact evaluation methods like matching techniques and difference-in-differences estimations. In addition, we innovatively apply Social Network Analysis (SNA) to the assessment of CT performance, employing a number of descriptive, visual, and inferential strategies. Ultimately, this thesis provides valuable ground for future research and policymaking, by returning important (and predominantly positive) insights on the (long term) repercussions of cash transfer programs (and UBI). The highlighted findings could then also generate useful recommendations for the advancement of (universal) social protection agendas, and in particular of SDG 1.3. |
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Language
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English
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Publication
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Antwerp
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University of Antwerp
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2024
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DOI
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10.63028/10067/2079170151162165141
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Volume/pages
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xxi, 453 p.
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Note
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Holvoet, Nathalie [Supervisor]
:
Dewachter, Sara [Supervisor]
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Full text (open access)
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