当你把钱给那些需要的人，你是在推动整个社区

当你把钱给那些需要的人，你是在推动整个社区

On the surface, it seems simple: When you give cash to someone in need, that person or family benefits the most. But a new study finds the true impact is much broader. When poor families receive financial aid, they also lift up the communities around them.

从表面上看，这似乎很简单:当你把钱给需要的人，那个人或家庭受益最大。但一项新的研究发现，真正的影响要广泛得多。当贫困家庭获得经济援助时，他们也提升了他们周围的社区。

When people were given cash in Kenyan households, they were able to spread the wealth to others in the community. (Photo: GiveDirectly)

Researchers teamed up with the charity GiveDirectly, which has been delivering cash since 2009 straight to poor residents of African countries. The group has given more than $140 million to impoverished families in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Liberia, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Morocco.

研究人员与慈善机构GiveDirectly合作，该机构自2009年起就直接向非洲国家的贫困居民发放现金。该组织已经向肯尼亚、乌干达、卢旺达、利比里亚、马拉维、刚果民主共和国和摩洛哥的贫困家庭捐赠了超过1.4亿美元。

Until now, research has focused on the impact of cash aid directly on the people who receive it. But this time, researchers looked at the ripple effect such a financial infusion had on the wider community.

到目前为止，研究主要集中在现金援助对接受者的直接影响上。但这一次，研究人员考察了这种资金注入对更广泛的社区产生的涟漪效应。

Researchers followed 10,500 households across 328 villages in Siaya, Kenya, each of which received about $1,000 in cash. That was the equivalent to about 15% of the local gross domestic product (GDP) or total local income for the area. That much money didn't just affect the households, it ended up affecting the communities, the researchers found.

研究人员对肯尼亚Siaya的328个村庄的10500个家庭进行了跟踪调查，每个家庭都收到了1000美元的现金。这相当于该地区本地生产总值(GDP)或本地总收入的15%。研究人员发现，这么多钱不仅影响了家庭，最终还影响了社区。

Of course, the families used the cash to buy food and other necessities. And by doing so, the money had a domino effect, spreading out into the community.

当然，这些家庭用这些钱买了食物和其他必需品。通过这样做，钱产生了多米诺骨牌效应，扩散到社区。

"That money goes to local businesses," study co-author Edward Miguel, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, tells NPR. "They sell more. They generate more revenue. And then eventually that gets passed on into labor earnings for their workers."

“这些钱流向了当地企业，”研究报告的作者之一、加州大学伯克利分校的经济学家爱德华·米格尔告诉美国国家公共电台(NPR)。“他们销售更多。他们创造了更多的收入。最终，这些钱会转化为工人的劳动收入。”

The greater value of a dollar

美元的更大价值

For every dollar GiveDirectly gave to a household, it had an economic impact of more than double that amount in the community. (Photo: GiveDirectly)

The researchers estimated that every dollar in cash aid increased economic activity by about $2.60 in the community.

研究人员估计，每一美元的现金援助增加了社区经济活动约2.6美元。

"We find large impacts on consumption and assets for recipients. Importantly, we document large positive spillovers on non-recipient households and firms, and minimal price inflation. We estimate a local fiscal multiplier of 2.6. We interpret welfare implications through the lens of a simple household optimization framework," the researchers write in their findings.

“我们发现，这对接受者的消费和资产有很大影响。重要的是，我们记录了对非受惠者家庭和公司的巨大积极溢出效应，以及最低的价格通胀。我们估计地方财政乘数为2.6。我们通过一个简单的家庭优化框架来解释福利的含义。

And researchers found that, despite some concerns, there were few effects from inflation. Local shopkeepers didn't have to hire more workers because of the new influx of cash so they didn't have to increase prices to cover any new salaries. Also, there were reportedly no problems with jealousy from those in the community who didn't receive money, possibly because so many people benefited when neighbors received newfound funds.

研究人员发现，尽管存在一些担忧，但通胀的影响微乎其微。由于新的现金流入，当地的店主不必雇佣更多的工人，所以他们不必提高价格来支付新的工资。此外，据报道，没有收到钱的人也没有嫉妒的问题，可能是因为很多人从邻居得到的新资金中受益。

This is just one of more than 165 studies on the effects of cash transfers, GiveDirectly points out. Research has found that an influx of cash lowers poverty, increases school attendance, improves health and overall well-being including empowerment and self-sufficiency. This is the first study, researchers say, that shows giving money can benefit more than just the recipients, with a ripple effect that benefits other community members in need.

GiveDirectly指出，这只是165个关于现金转移影响的研究之一。研究发现，现金的流入降低了贫困，提高了入学率，改善了健康和整体福祉，包括赋权和自给自足。研究人员说，这是第一次有研究表明，捐钱不仅能让接受者受益，还会产生连锁反应，让其他有需要的社区成员受益。