Does the recipient matter? Experimental evidence on the impact of changing cash transfers from married men to their spouses in Ethiopia

Last registered on March 26, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Does the recipient matter? Experimental evidence on the impact of changing cash transfers from married men to their spouses in Ethiopia
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015357
Initial registration date
March 21, 2025

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
March 26, 2025, 9:32 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Margaux Vinez
Affiliation
World Bank
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Sylvie Lambert
PI Affiliation
Paris School of Economics
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PI Name
Gashaw T. Abate
PI Affiliation
IFPRI
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PI Name
Hiwot Mesfin
PI Affiliation
World Bank
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PI Name
Laura Ahlborn
PI Affiliation
Paris School of Economics
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2024-06-24
End date
2026-06-30
Keywords
Finance & Microfinance, Gender, Welfare
Additional Keywords
Social protection
JEL code(s)
I38
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
While cash transfer programs commonly target women with the aim of enhancing household well-being and child outcomes, the effectiveness of this strategy remains uncertain. Existing studies indicate divergent impacts when altering the recipient of cash transfers, suggesting that context and prevailing gender norms play an important role. Complementary interventions could help increase women’s participation in economic decisions and control over resources. Furthermore, evidence on the impact of gender targeting in public work programs is lacking. This design note outlines a randomized controlled trial in Ethiopia’s rural Productive Safety Net program, that aims to assess the impact of switching the recipient of public work transfers within married households from the household head to the spouse. The study will also assess the impact of complementary budget planning activities for couples and/or groups of women. The study seeks to shed light on the effectiveness of such interventions in enhancing household welfare and women’s empowerment in safety net programs.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Abate, Gashaw T. et al. 2025. "Does the recipient matter? Experimental evidence on the impact of changing cash transfers from married men to their spouses in Ethiopia ." AEA RCT Registry. March 26. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15357-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2024-12-23
Intervention End Date
2025-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Primary outcomes are the key goal of the PSNP transfers and the change in transfer recipient, and complementary training – these include consumption, food security and nutrition (including dietary diversity), women empowerment indicators (including mental health and intimate partner violence), and children’s outcomes.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Food Security : Food consumption, Household Food consumption score (FCS), Food gap, Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES)
Nutrition: Household dietary diversity score (HDDS), Minimum dietary diversity for women (MDD-W)
Children’s nutritional outcomes: Minimum dietary diversity score for one child 6-23 months old (MDD-IYCF),
Minimum dietary diversity score for one older child
Women empowerment: Self-efficacy, Other measures of women empowerment, e.g., motivational autonomy, locus of control, Physical mobility, Household decision-making, Norms about women’s participation in decision-making

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Children outcomes, participation in public works, intrahousehold transfers and finances, mental health, GBV, couple satisfaction
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Our experimental sample will consist of 423 kebeles (selected among PSNP kebeles) distributed across 32 woredas and 3 regions. The study kebeles will be randomly assigned to several treatment arms with a stratification at the woreda (and kebele) level, each with a distinct set of interventions, and a control group to establish a credible counterfactual for comparison. 15 randomly selected households will also be randomly assigned to complementary treatment modalities in treatment kebeles, as detailed below.

In the control group (C), 141 randomly selected Kebeles (a third of the total) will not be subject to any additional intervention. All public work households will continue to participate in PSNP public works and receive transfers as per the standard operational manual.

Another set of 141 Kebeles will be randomly selected for the first Treatment Group (T1). All kebeles in this group will receive the Women Transfer (WT) and Communication Campaign (Comm). Within the Kebeles receiving WT and Comm, the main recipient of PSNP public work transfers will be changed from the head of the household to the spouse for all male headed married households (WT) and a community level communication campaign will be delivered. In each of those kebeles, 15 households will be randomly selected among married male-headed public work households. Seven of them (randomly selected) will participate in a Couple Budget Planning Activity to assess how involving couples in jointly prioritizing expenses can enhance the effects of WT and Comm (T1a), while the rest will not receive any additional intervention.

An additional 141 Kebeles will be randomly selected for the second Treatment Group (T2). All kebeles in this group will receive the Women Budget Planning Activity (WAct) interventions. In this group, the main recipient of PSNP public work transfers will be changed from the head of the household to the spouse for all male headed married households (WT) and a community level communication campaign will be delivered, WT + Comm. In addition, 15 households in each kebele will be randomly selected among married male-headed public work households to participate in the women group activity (WAct) to assess the impact of this additional intervention. Finally, in each kebele, 7 of the 15 households selected for the WT + Comm + WAct will also participate in the Couple Budget Planning Activity to evaluate the holistic impact of gender-focused interventions. The savings intervention is cross-randomized at the individual level on the whole sample, including controls.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
kebele level (WT + Comm and WT + Comm + Wact)
household level (Couple budget planning activity and savings information)
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
423 kebeles
Sample size: planned number of observations
6,345 households
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Across kebeles:
WT+Comm: 141 kebeles and 2,115 households
(WT+Comm) + WAct: 141 kebeles and 2,115 households
Control: 141 kebeles and 2,115 households

Within kebeles:
WT+Comm: 1,128 households
WT+Comm + Couple budget planning: 987 households

WT +Comm + WAct: 1,128 households
WT + Comm + WAct + Couple budget planning: 987

Savings: 3,384 households
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
details in the PAP
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Paris School of Economics Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2024-03-15
IRB Approval Number
2024-009
Analysis Plan

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