title: Targeting health subsidies through a nonprice mechanism: A randomized controlled trial in Kenya.
abstract: Free provision of preventive health products can markedly increase access in low-income countries. A cost concern about free provision is that some recipients may not use the product, wasting resources (overinclusion). Yet, charging a price to screen out nonusers may screen out poor people who need and would use the product (overexclusion). We report on a randomized controlled trial of a screening mechanism that combines the free provision of chlorine solution for water treatment with a small nonmonetary cost (household vouchers that need to be redeemed monthly in order). Relative to a nonvoucher free distribution program, this mechanism reduces the quantity of chlorine procured by 60 percentage points, but reduces the share of households whose stored water tests positive for chlorine residual by only one percentage point, substantially improving the trade-off between overinclusion and overexclusion.
authors: Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA, USA. Cambridge, MA, USA. pdupas@stanford.edu v.hoffmann@cgiar.org mkremer@fas.harvard.edu alix.zwane@globalinnovation.fund.
authors: Pascaline
authors: P
authors: Dupas
authors: International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA. pdupas@stanford.edu v.hoffmann@cgiar.org mkremer@fas.harvard.edu alix.zwane@globalinnovation.fund.
authors: Vivian
authors: V
authors: Hoffmann
authors: National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA, USA. Cambridge, MA, USA. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. pdupas@stanford.edu v.hoffmann@cgiar.org mkremer@fas.harvard.edu alix.zwane@globalinnovation.fund.
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Kremer
authors: Global Innovation Fund, Washington, DC, USA. pdupas@stanford.edu v.hoffmann@cgiar.org mkremer@fas.harvard.edu alix.zwane@globalinnovation.fund.
authors: Alix Peterson
authors: AP
authors: Zwane
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002713:Chlorine; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005380:Financing, Government; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000191:economics*; D006795:Household Products / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007630:Kenya; D008403:Mass Screening; D011050:Policy Making; D011203:Poverty; D012996:Solutions / Q000191:economics; D018508:Water Purification / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D012996:Solutions; D002713:Chlorine