In this episode, we talk with Johannes Haushofer about his paper “The Comparative Impact of Cash Transfers and a Psychotherapy Program on Psychological and Economic Well-being” co-authored with Robert Mudida and Jeremy Shapiro. This paper explores the possible interactive or synergetic effects between cash transfers and a psychotherapy intervention in Kenya. We discuss the surprising results of this study, some of the biggest challenges and ethical considerations such as the collection of sensitive data and randomisation of cash transfers itself.
The following references were also mentioned during the conversation:
- GiveDirectly (2018): “Our take on HS18, revisited”. Retrieved from https://www.givedirectly.org/our-take-on-hs18-revisited/
- Haushofer J. and Shapiro J. (2016): “The Short-Term Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers to the Poor: Experimental Evidence from Kenya”. Quarterly Journal of Economics. 2016 Nov. 131(4):1973-2042.
- Haushofer J. (2016): “CV of failures”. https://haushofer.ne.su.se/
