Data and Code for: The Dynamic Effects of Cash Transfers to Agricultural Households

While cash transfers will tautologically increase contemporaneous consumption, it is unclear whether these gains will persist, especially in rural agricultural settings with limited productive investment opportunities. Using bi-monthly survey data from recipients of a large, unconditional cash transfer in Liberia and Malawi, we document sustained food security improvements until 1.5-2 years after disbursement, driven by increased farm investments and production. We additionally document reductions in casual off-farm labor, increases in psychological well-being and, in Liberia, a decline in IPV. We find similar increases in harvest output across different transfer sizes. Those receiving larger transfers spend more on housing and durables. Response Rates: For the in-person endline survey, 96% of study households in Liberia and 94% in Malawi completed the survey.

Attrition in the phone survey is more heterogeneous across countries. In Malawi, over 95% of the sample participated in early rounds; though this percentage fell over time, we still successfully interviewed 80% or more until the 12th round (approximately 2 years after cash was disbursed). However, in Liberia, attrition is substantially higher: compliance peaks at 75% immediately after enrollment, but falls below 50% within 8 or 9 rounds (16-18 months). Randomly sampled up to 10 households from each of the 600 villages in rural Liberia and Malawi. Counties and Districts in which villages were located were selected by funding and implementation partners. For detail description of sampling, see section "Experimental Design" of the manuscript. Rural households in Liberia and Malawi. Smallest Geographic Unit: villages computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI); computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI); face-to-face interview; telephone interview;