Showing papers by "Deon Filmer published in 2021"

Cash Transfers, Food Prices, and Nutrition Impacts on Ineligible Children

Abstract: Cash Transfers, Food Prices, and Nutrition Impacts on Ineligible Children Deon Filmer, Jed Friedman, Eeshani Kandpal, Junko Onishi Abstract: Can cash aid harm non-recipients by raising local prices? We show that a householdtargeted cash transfer in the Philippines increases the prices of perishable foods in some markets and raises stunting among non-beneficiary children by 11 percentage points (34 percent). Impacts increase in the size of the village income shock and remoteness-and are sustained 2.5 years after program introduction. Price effects from an experimental sample are confirmed with national expenditure surveys collected during program scaleup. Household-targeted cash transfers can thus generate local spillovers that undermine program goals. Selected geographic targeting may avoid price spillovers at moderate additional cost.

Education and Health for Inclusiveness

Abstract: We discuss existing shortfalls and inequalities in the accumulation of human capital—knowledge, skills, and health. We analyze their immediate and systemic causes, and assess the scope for public intervention. The broad policy goals should be to improve: the quality, and not just the quantity, of education and health care; outcomes for disadvantaged groups; and lifelong outcomes. The means to achieve these goals, while maximizing value for money, include: focusing on results rather than just inputs; moving from piecemeal interventions to systemic reform; and adopting a “whole-of-society” approach. Reforms must be underpinned by a robust evidence base.

In Appreciation of Adam: Reflections from Friends and Colleagues.

Abstract: Some of Adam Wagstsaff’s colleagues and research collaborators submitted short reflections about the different ways Adam made a difference through his amazing research output to health equity and health systems as well as a leader and mentor. The Guest Editors of this Special Issue selected a set of six essays related to dimensions of Adam’s contributions. The first contribution highlights his role early on in his career, prior to joining the World Bank, in defining and expanding an important field of research on equity in health (“Adam and Equity,” by Eddy van Doorslaer and Owen O’Donnell). The second contribution focuses on Adam’s early work on equity and health within the World Bank and his leadership on important initiatives that have had impact far beyond the World Bank (“Adam and Health Equity at the World Bank,” by Davidson Gwatkin and Abdo Yazbeck). The next contribution focuses on Adam’s deep dive into providing support, through research, for country-specific programs and reforms, with a special focus on some countries in East Asia (“Adam and Country Health System Research,” by Magnus Lindelow, Caryn Bredenkamp, Winnie Yip, and Sarah Bales). The next contribution highlights Adam’s many ways of contributing to the International Health Economics Association, from the impressive technical contributions to leadership and organizational reform (“Adam and iHEA,” by Diane McIntyre). The next to last contribution focuses on Adam’s long-term leadership in the research group at the World Bank and the long-lasting influence on integrating the research produced into World Bank operations and creating an environment that rewarded producing evidence for action (“Adam the Research Manager,” by Deon Filmer and Damien de Walque). The last contribution pulls on the thread found in many of the earlier ones, mentorship with honesty, directness, caring, commitment, and equity (“Adam the Mentor,” by Agnes Couffinhal, Caryn Bredenkamp, and Reem Hafez).