Reproducibility package for Cash Is Queen: Local Economy Effects Of Cash Transfers To Women In West Africa
Overview
This paper examines the direct and spillover effects of cash transfers paid in a rural and low-income setting. In the short run, an unconditional cash transfer program for ultrapoor households in Northern Nigeria led to a 12 percentage point increase in microenterprise formation for program recipients. Moreover, benefits continued to increase in magnitude after program cessation and also extended to nearby non-beneficiary households when compared to counterparts in other villages where no cash transfers were paid. One year after program cessation, beneficiary women increased their enterprise ownership rate by 20 percentage points, while the rate for non-beneficiary women increased by 13 percentage points. Both groups of households enjoyed higher consumption and food security, and shifted away from husband-centered toward joint intrahousehold decision-making. One mechanism for this growth spillover is a boost to aggregate demand for local goods, in part identified by the positive link between the (randomly determined) neighborhood density of cash transfer households and enterprise creation. The increase in local female entrepreneurial activity translates to a partial income multiplier of at least 0.32. Women face restrictive social norms around work in this context and the slack productive resource brought into activity by the cash transfer is female labor, specifically female-led entrepreneurship near the home.
Reproducibility Package
| Repository name | URI |
|---|---|
| Reproducible Research Repository (World Bank) | https://reproducibility.worldbank.org |
Reproducibility
Paper exhibits were reproduced on a computer with the following specifications:
– Windows 10 Enterprise, version 22H2
– Processor: Intel(R) Xeon(R) Gold 6226R CPU @ 2.90GHz 2.90 GHz (2 processors)
– Memory available: 32 GB
– Software version: StataNow 18.5 MP-Parallel Edition, R 4.4.1
Runtime: 9 hours
To replicate the results in this package, users need to complete the following steps:
-
Obtain access to the data
The data used in this analysis is currently under embargo by the authors and is not publicly available. As a result, running the package is not currently possible.
Even after the embargo is lifted, portions of the data will remain restricted due to confidentiality concerns (e.g., GPS-derived variables), which will still prevent full execution of the package. Please refer to the Data Availability section for more details. -
If access to the data is granted
If, at any point, access to the necessary data is obtained, the package can be run successfully after the following minor adjustments:- Update the project folder path in the Stata do-file:
MasterDofile_CashIsQueen.do - Update the project folder path in the R scripts:
AppendixB_RScript.RandAppendixD_RScript.R
- Update the project folder path in the Stata do-file:
Because obtaining access to the data may be difficult or take time, we have included a folder with the replicators' output files. These include all exhibits and can be used to verify results against the published paper.
Data
All data is currently under a temporary embargo by the authors and is expected to be made publicly available in the future. However, some datasets will remain restricted even after the embargo is lifted and will not be included in the reproducibility package. For more details, please refer to the README file.
Description
| Author | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Jed Friedman | World Bank | jfriedman@worldbank.org |
| Sreelakshmi Papineni | World Bank | spapineni@worldbank.org |
| Markus Goldstein | Center for Global Development | mgoldstein@cgdev.org |
| Paula Gonzalez | World Bank | pgonzalezmartine@worldbank.org |
2025-04-15
Scope and coverage
| Location | Code |
|---|---|
| Nigeria | NGA |
Disclaimer
The materials in the reproducibility packages are distributed as they were prepared by the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this event do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank, the Executive Directors of the World Bank, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the materials included in the reproducibility package.
Access and rights
| Name | URI |
|---|---|
| Modified BSD3 | https://opensource.org/license/bsd-3-clause/ |
Contacts
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Paula Gonzalez | World Bank | pgonzalezmartine@worldbank.org |
| Reproducibility WBG | World Bank | reproducibility@worldbank.org |
Information on metadata
| Name | Abbreviation | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproducibility WBG | DIME | World Bank - Development Impact Department | Verification and preparation of metadata |
2025-04-15
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