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Elodie Becquey

Elodie Becquey is a Senior Research Fellow in the Nutrition, Diets, and Health Unit, based in IFPRI’s West and Central Africa office in Senegal. She has over 15 years of research experience in diet, nutrition, and food security in Africa, including countries such as Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, and Tanzania.

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Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion

James Allen IV

Associate Research Fellow

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Bio

James Allen IV is an Associate Research Fellow in the Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit. A development economist, his research aims to improve poverty, health, and education in Africa by studying policies and interventions via randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and natural experiments. James has a PhD in economics and public policy from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in agricultural, food, and resource economics from Michigan State University. He also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali (2010–2012).

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Brief

Cash transfers and inflation: An overview of the evidence

2025Allen IV, James; Gentilini, Ugo
Details

Cash transfers and inflation: An overview of the evidence

Cash transfer programs are a leading form of social assistance, reaching up to 21 percent of the population in at least 68 low- and middle-income countries (World Bank 2025). Between 1980 and 2023, a total of 1.4 million papers were produced on the matter (Gentilini 2024) and more have been published since. While the design and impact of these and related programs have been closely studied (Banerjee et al. 2024), much less is known about whether or not cash transfer programs cause increases in the market price of good and services—that is, inflation. By reducing the purchasing power of money, program-driven inflation can diminish the positive impacts of cash transfers for recipients and create a negative spillover for nonrecipients, thus undermining program aims of improving social welfare. Recent literature on cash transfers and inflation is limited and often described as dichotomous: on one side, Egger et al. (2022) and other studies find little to no effect, while, on the other side, Filmer et al. (2023) find sizable and alarming inflationary effects on selected commodities. However, a closer look at these and other papers reveals that their results are less contradictory than they first appear. Rather, the whole body of the current literature is congruous with the hypothesis that cash transfers have minimal average effects on prices for most market goods; but these transfers can cause inflation where they significantly increase market demand for goods for which supply is relatively inelastic. This review proceeds as follows. We first present a simple conceptual model that illustrates the theoretical basis for this hypothesis, followed by an overview of the studies included in the review and their key differences. The next section presents a synthesis of the main findings in the existing empirical evidence. We then look at related research just outside the purview of this review. The conclusion discusses key takeaways.

Year published

2025

Authors

Allen IV, James; Gentilini, Ugo

Citation

Allen IV, James; and Gentilini, Ugo. 2025. Cash transfers and inflation: An overview of the evidence. IFPRI Evidence Brief October 2025. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/177175

Keywords

Cash Transfers; Social Protection; Economic Impact; Inflation

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Brief

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Working Paper

Are poor people conditionally cooperative? Contrasting evidence from a field-adapted contributions game

2025Allen IV, James; Karachiwalla, Naureen; Rakshit, Deboleena
Details

Are poor people conditionally cooperative? Contrasting evidence from a field-adapted contributions game

We study conditional cooperation using a field-adapted conditional contributions game in rural Mozambique, eliciting community members’ willingness to contribute to a new public program conditional on how many others contribute. While past studies suggest most people are conditional cooperators (contributing more as others do), most of our sample (57%) are undefined by standard classifications. Instead, our sample’s most common types are largely absent from the literature: counter conditional cooperators (contributing less as others do) and v-shaped cooperators, both for monetary donations (30% and 19%) and volunteering (35% and 12%). Our findings motivate future research in both non-laboratory and low-income settings.

Year published

2025

Authors

Allen IV, James; Karachiwalla, Naureen; Rakshit, Deboleena

Citation

Allen IV, James; Karachiwalla, Naureen; and Rakshit, Deboleena. 2025. Are poor people conditionally cooperative? Contrasting evidence from a field-adapted contributions game. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2364. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176850

Country/Region

Mozambique

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Southern Africa; Cooperation; Low Income Groups; Poverty; School Feeding

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Working Paper

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Working Paper

Would you rather? Household choice between cash transfers or an economic inclusion program

2024Allen IV, James; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Kurdi, Sikandra; Yassa, Basma
Details

Would you rather? Household choice between cash transfers or an economic inclusion program

We study households’ choice between continued cash transfers and a new economic inclusion program—two global prevalent social protection programs—offered by the Egyptian government. Lower-than-expected early adoption of the new program is correlated with differing perceptions on its design. We randomize official messaging to households describing the new program’s (i) consumption support duration and (ii) income-earning potential. Both treatments increase respondents’ likelihood of recommending the new program. A theoretical model estimated using households’ perceptions of program design predicts interest in the new program, and how it diminishes with increasing effort costs, asset loss probability, risk aversion and loss aversion.

Year published

2024

Authors

Allen IV, James; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Kurdi, Sikandra; Yassa, Basma

Citation

Allen IV, James; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Kurdi, Sikandra; and Yassa, Basma. 2024. Would you rather: Voluntary take-up of a poverty graduation program among cash transfer recipients. MENA Working Paper 44. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/158340

Country/Region

Egypt

Keywords

Africa; Northern Africa; Social Protection; Poverty; Poverty Reduction; Cash Transfers

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Working Paper