Beyond targeting women: Intrahousehold contexts and the effectiveness of food vouchers
Journal of Health Economics · 2026 · Seollee Park、Yaeeun Han、Hyuncheol Bryant Kim
中文摘要
许多转移支付项目以女性为对象，其依据是母亲比父亲更倾向于将资源用于儿童福利。然而，关于性别化影响的研究结果仍不一致——很可能是因为父母的知识、偏好以及家庭决策角色因情境而异。在本研究中，我们通过埃塞俄比亚农村的一项随机对照试验，对家庭内部的信息情境本身进行实验性变化。具体而言，我们采用析因设计，对两个关键维度进行交叉随机化：(1) 由哪一方父母接受营养行为改变沟通（BCC）——双方均不接受、仅母亲接受或双方均接受；(2) 由哪一方父母接受家庭食品券——母亲或父亲。我们发现，在父亲不接受BCC的各类情境中合并来看，分配给母亲的食品券在改善儿童喂养实践方面比分配给父亲的食品券带来更大的改善。当母亲同时接受BCC和食品券时，效应最大。当父亲也接受BCC时，这种母亲优势减弱并不再可被检测到。我们提供的提示性证据表明，当母亲既拥有知识优势又掌控资源时，她们能够更好地调动更多的家庭内部支持。这些发现凸显了在设计营养干预措施时，考虑家庭内部情境而不仅仅是受助者性别的重要性。
Abstract
Many transfer programs target women based on evidence that mothers are more likely than fathers to allocate resources toward child welfare. However, findings on gendered impacts remain mixed—likely because parental knowledge, preferences, and household decision-making roles differ across contexts. In this study, we experimentally vary the intrahousehold informational context itself through a randomized controlled trial in rural Ethiopia. Specifically, employing a factorial design, we cross-randomize two key dimensions: (1) which parent receives nutrition behavior change communication (BCC) — neither, mother only, or both; and (2) which parent receives a household food voucher — mother or father. We find that, pooled across settings in which fathers do not receive BCC, vouchers assigned to mothers generate larger improvements in child-feeding practices than vouchers assigned to fathers. The largest effects occur when mothers receive both BCC and the voucher. This maternal advantage attenuates and is no longer detectable when fathers also receive BCC. We provide suggestive evidence that when mothers have both a knowledge advantage and control over resources, they are better able to mobilize greater intrahousehold support. These findings highlight the importance of accounting for intrahousehold contexts, not just recipient gender, when designing nutrition interventions.