COVID-19, food relief, and social distancing: evidence from the Bayan Bayanihan Program in the Philippines

Deskripsi

It uses random variations in the timing of the rollout of the program by employing recent developments in estimating staggered difference-in-differences strategies to more accurately identify the effect of the program. It finds supportive evidence that the program could generally discourage mobility. Findings suggest that in addition to mitigating food insecurity, food transfer programs can also generate multiple dividends by helping families stay home and reducing the spread of COVID-19.