Tagay at yosi:an analysis of alcohol and tobacco spending patterns across 4Ps household and other determinants
Date
2016-05-25
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Abstract
The Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Program has been lauded as one of the most
effective social security nets for the poor. Different CCT programs across countries have been
consistently proven to promote capital accumulation– enabling poverty alleviation and
preventing recurrence. In contrast and on a related note, however, a number of studies have
found that people below the poverty line were more likely to consume alcohol and/or tobacco,
comprising large shares of total household expenditures and exacerbating poverty. In light of
such, this study aims to identify and measure systematic relationships between drinking as well
as smoking behaviors and other household characteristics that would be the determinants
thereof– with particular attention to member households of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino
Program (4Ps), the CCT program of the Philippines. Using the 2014 Annual Poverty Indicators
Survey, the study estimated a number of OLS regressions as well as an Ordered Logit regression
to detect and measure said relationships, if any existed. Results have shown that 4Ps payments
do not systematically affect alcohol and tobacco spending nor does membership significantly
affect falling into a certain spending range for the said commodities, suggesting that the 4Ps
boasts a well-design program. Among other results, it was also found that drinking and smoking
behaviors are closely related such that one tends to encourage the other. Moreover, female-
headed households tended to spend less on alcohol and tobacco, encouraging the initiative of
deliberately and preferentially identifying women as the recipient of 4Ps payments on behalf of
their respective households.
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Keywords
4Ps, alcohol consumption, tobacco consumption