Can We Rely on Cash Transfers to Protect Dietary Diversity during Food Crises? Estimates from Indonesia

Can We Rely on Cash Transfers to Protect Dietary Diversity during Food Crises? Estimates from Indonesia

The 2008 "food price crisis" and more recent spikes in food prices have led to a greater focus on policies and programs to cushion their impact on poverty and malnutrition. Estimating the income elasticity of micro-nutrients and assessing...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Skoufias, Emmanuel, Tiwari, Sailesh, Zaman, Hassan
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	2012
Subjects:	ADVERSE EFFECTS AGGREGATE MEASURE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION ASCORBIC ACID CA CALCIUM CALORIE INCOME CALORIE INTAKE CARBOHYDRATE CARBOHYDRATES CAROTENE CASH TRANSFER PROGRAMS CASH TRANSFERS CEREALS CHEAPER FOOD CONSUMER GOODS CONSUMER PRICE INDEX CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES COOKING CROSS-SECTIONAL DATA DAIRY DATA SET DEMAND FOR FOOD DEVELOPING WORLD DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT POLICY DIET DIETARY INTAKES DRINKING WATER ECONOMETRICS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC RESEARCH ECONOMIC REVIEW ECONOMIC SHOCKS ECONOMIC STUDIES ECONOMIC SURVEYS ECONOMIC THEORY ECONOMIES OF SCALE EGGS ELASTICITY EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE ENGEL CURVE ENGEL CURVES ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS FARM HOUSEHOLDS FATS FEEDING PROGRAMS FINANCIAL CRISIS FOOD CONSUMPTION FOOD DISTRIBUTION FOOD EXPENDITURE FOOD EXPENDITURES FOOD INTAKE FOOD ITEMS FOOD POLICY FOOD POLICY RESEARCH FOOD PREFERENCES FOOD PRICE FOOD PRICE INDEX FOOD PRICES FOOD SECURITY FOOD SHARE FOOD TRANSFERS FRUITS FUTURE RESEARCH GRAINS HETEROSKEDASTICITY HIGH CONCENTRATION HOUSEHOLD BUDGET HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION HOUSEHOLD FOOD INSECURITY HOUSEHOLD HEAD HOUSEHOLD INCOME HOUSEHOLD SIZE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HOUSEHOLD WELFARE HUNGER IMPACT ON POVERTY INCIDENCE OF POVERTY INCOME DISTRIBUTION INCOME EFFECT INCOME ELASTICITY INCOME ELASTICITY OF DEMAND INCOME GROUPS INCOME ON FOOD INCOME SUPPORT INCOMES INEQUALITY INFLATION RATE INSURANCE INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE IRON LINEAR REGRESSION MALNUTRITION MEASUREMENT ERROR MEASUREMENT ERRORS MEAT MICRONUTRIENTS NEGATIVE SIGN NOMINAL INCOME 0 HYPOTHESIS NUTRIENT NUTRIENT CONTENT NUTRITION POLICY NUTRITIONAL OUTCOMES NUTRITIONAL STATUS NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTATION PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION POLICY ANALYSIS POLICY DISCUSSIONS POLICY PERSPECTIVE POLITICAL ECONOMY POOR POOR HOUSEHOLDS POOR PEOPLE POOR RURAL HOUSEHOLDS POVERTY IMPACT POVERTY LINE POVERTY REDUCTION PREPARED FOODS PRICE CHANGES PRICE INCREASES PRICE SUBSIDIES PROTEIN PULSES PURCHASING POWER REAL INCOME REGIONAL INEQUALITY REGRESSION ANALYSIS RELATIVE PRICES RICE RURAL RURAL AREAS RURAL CONSUMERS SAFETY NET PROGRAMS SEASONINGS SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES SIGNIFICANT IMPACT SMOOTHING CONSUMPTION SOCIAL SAFETY SOFT DRINKS STAPLE FOODS STARCHES SUPPLEMENTARY FEEDING TRANSACTION COSTS TUBERS UNDERNUTRITION VEGETABLES VITAMIN VITAMIN A VITAMIN B VITAMIN C VITAMINS
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20110124140944 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3319

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Summary:	The 2008 "food price crisis" and more recent spikes in food prices have led to a greater focus on policies and programs to cushion their impact on poverty and malnutrition. Estimating the income elasticity of micro-nutrients and assessing how they change during such crises is an important part of the policy debate as it affects the effectiveness of cash transfer and nutritional supplementation programs. This paper assesses these issues using data from two cross-sectional household surveys in Indonesia carried out before and soon after the 1997/98 economic crisis, which led to a sharp increase in food prices. First, the authors examine how the income elasticity of the starchy staple ratio differs between the two survey rounds using non-parametric as well as regression methods. Second, they provide updated estimates of the income elasticity for important nutrients in Indonesia. The analysis finds that (i) summary measures such as the income elasticity of the starchy staple ratio may not change during crises but this masks important differences across specific nutrients; (ii) methods matter -- the ordinary least squares estimates for the income elasticity of micro-nutrients are likely to be misleading due to measurement error bias; (iii) controlling for measurement error, the income elasticity of some key micro-nutrients, such as iron, calcium, and vitamin B1, is significantly higher in the crisis year compared with a normal year; and (iv) the income elasticity for certain micro-nutrients -- vitamin C in this case -- remains close to zero. These results suggest that cash transfer programs may be even more effective during crises to protect the consumption of many essential micro-nutrients compared with non-crisis periods but in order to ensure that all micro-nutrients are consumed, specific nutritional supplementation programs are also likely to be required.

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