GiveWell is trying to update their recommendations, and they are specifically trying to update their priors on the cost-effectiveness of cash transfers, based on the relatively recent Egger et al. (2022) paper, which evaluated a large-scale, one-time cash transfer program by GiveDirectly (GD), providing close to PPP$2,000 ($1,000 nominal) per beneficiary household (HH), which accounted for approximately three quarters of total HH expenditure. At its peak, the program accounted for about 15% of the GDP of the area it covered, which implies (by my crude calculations) that about one-fifth of the households in program areas were beneficiaries (GD targeted HHs that lived under thatched roofs). As that paper documented large positive spillovers to non-beneficiaries in... Read More