TY  - JOUR
AU  - Levinsohn,James
AU  - McMillan,Margaret
TI  - Does Food Aid Harm the Poor? Household Evidence from Ethiopia
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 11048
PY  - 2005
Y2  - January 2005
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11048
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11048.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
James A. Levinsohn
Yale School of Management
PO Box 208200
New Haven, CT  06520
Tel: 734/763-2319
Fax: 734/764-2769
E-Mail: James.Levinsohn@yale.edu

Margaret S. McMillan
Tufts University
Department of Economics
114a Braker Hall
Medford, MA 02155
Tel: 617/627-3137
Fax: 617/627-3197
E-Mail: margaret.mcmillan@tufts.edu
M1  - published as James Levinsohn, Margaret McMillan. "Does Food Aid Harm the Poor? Household Evidence from Ethiopia," in Ann Harrison, editor, "Globalization and Poverty" University of Chicago Press (2007)

AB  - This paper uses household-level data from Ethiopia to investigate the impact of food aid on the poor. We find that food aid in Ethiopia is "pro-poor." Our results indicate that (i) net buyers of wheat are poorer than net sellers of wheat, (ii) there are more buyers of wheat than sellers of wheat at all levels of income, (iii) the proportion of net sellers is increasing in living standards and (iv) net benefit ratios are higher for poorer households indicating that poorer households benefit proportionately more from a drop in the price of wheat. In light of this evidence, it appears that households at all levels of income benefit from food aid and that - somewhat surprisingly - the benefits go disproportionately to the poorest households.
ER  -