Research

I am a strong believer that social protection/welfare programs should truly benefit the poor and the vulnerable in the world. My work seek to understand the impact of these programs and how to improve them.

My current main area of interest is the long term impact of improvements in social protection (e.g., cash transfers, in-kind transfers) programs. I am also interested to explore prevalence of asset misreporting during poverty censuses and how it has affected the accuracy of welfare targeting in developing countries.

Cumulative Impacts of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs: Experimental Evidence from Indonesia

with Nurcahyadi, Benjamin Olken, Rema Hanna, Elan Satriawan and Ekki Syamsulhakim.

American Economic Journal - Economic Policy (2020).

(NBER working paper 2018 version , Media coverage , AEA highlights podcast, Data & Code)

Abstract

Conditional cash transfers provide income and promote human capital investments. Yet, evaluating their longitudinal impacts is hard, as most experimental evaluations treat control locations after a few years. We examine such impacts in Indonesia after six years, using an experimental rollout in which the experiment remained largely intact. We find static effects on many targeted indicators: childbirth using trained professionals increased dramatically, and under-15 children not in school fell by half. We observe impacts requiring cumulative investments: stunting fell by 23 percent. While human capital accumulation increased, the transfers did not lead to transformative economic change for recipient households.

Threats, Pledges and Asset Misreporting: Evidence from Framed Field Experiment in Indonesia

with Simon Feeny, Robert Hoffmann and Elan Satriawan (Under Review), Working paper version

Abstract

Indonesia welfare targeting policy has recently adopted a self-targeting mechanism, allowing households to claim for benefit by self-reporting their assets. Benefiting from this policy change, we designed a framed field experiment to examine to what extent the policy change motivates the beneficiaries to misreport. Further, we test the effectiveness of text stimuli interventions to discourage dishonest asset self-reporting. In the incentivised experiment, conducted with 599 participants in 26 Indonesian villages, we find large fraction of participants cheated, with men are more likely to be dishonest than women. Verification threats but not honesty pledges significantly reduced the likelihood of under-reporting, with men are more responsive to the behavioural interventions than women.

Caretakers’ perceptions and willingness-to-pay for complementary food in urban and rural Cambodia

with Mulia Nurhasan, Søren Bøye Olsen, Frank Wieringa, Marjoleine Dijkhuizen, Chamnan Chhoun, and Nanna Roos

Maternal & Child Nutrition (2021)

Abstract:

Inadequate child nutrition during the first ‘1000 days’ is widespread in Cambodia, resulting in high prevalence of child malnutrition. Access to processed complementary food in packages (PCFP) may provide a practical solution for caregivers to provide a nutritionally balanced diet for infants and young children. This study aimed to evaluate caretakers’ preferences and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for PCFP in Cambodia. The study was conducted in urban and rural settings in Cambodia, involving 520 caretakers with children aged 7-24 months in Phnom Penh (urban) and Prey Veng (rural). Four PCFPs were included: a commercial brand (‘commercial’); a social-commercial brand (‘hybrid’); a fortified complementary food aid product (CSB++); and an experimental fish and rice based PCFP developed in Cambodia (‘WinFood-L’ (WF-L)). Sensory analysis was conducted for all the four products (Friedman test), while a stated WTP assessment excluded CSB++, and an actual WTP experiment included only WF-L. Our results showed that participants in urban areas were more familiar with PCFP, and more exposed to advertisements for such products. Most participants were willing to pay for WF-L, with an average WTP of 1,693 ± 844 Cambodia riel (KHR) in urban settings and 1,355 ± 525 KHR in rural settings. In conclusion, WF-L is preferred by rural participants over CSB++, and participants were willing to pay for it. To compete with other PCFP available in Cambodia market, WF-L needs further development.