Comments on: Underpants games http://chrisblattman.com/2009/12/18/underpants-games/ International development, politics, economics, and policy Sun, 20 May 2012 12:32:52 +0000 hourly 1 By: eve iskhttp://chrisblattman.com/2009/12/18/underpants-games/#comment-15547 eve isk Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:53:18 +0000 http://chrisblattman.com/?p=3927#comment-15547 Thank you for your post. It was very interesting for me! Thank you for your post. It was very interesting for me!

]]> By: Justin Kraushttp://chrisblattman.com/2009/12/18/underpants-games/#comment-10831 Justin Kraus Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:19:21 +0000 http://chrisblattman.com/?p=3927#comment-10831 "transactional sex" is this simply a euphemism for prostitution or is there a substantive difference? The only paper I found on it defined it "as the exchange of gifts or money for sex." which sounds pretty darn near identical to prostitution. Also one hates to be nitpicky (and as one who has done research in Africa I know that conditions are always far from ideal) but if the NGO's motivation is to control the spending habits of those in the school (which is as you say paternalistic, and I add just plain wrong) then do they really think that your handing out of underwear instead of cash is going to be effective in this regard? Especially if these people have drug/sex addictions I would bet you that they will find very creative ways of turning those tighty-whiteys into drugs and "gifts" for sex. wrong + ineffective = very bad idea “transactional sex” is this simply a euphemism for prostitution or is there a substantive difference? The only paper I found on it defined it “as the exchange of gifts or money for sex.” which sounds pretty darn near identical to prostitution.
Also one hates to be nitpicky (and as one who has done research in Africa I know that conditions are always far from ideal) but if the NGO’s motivation is to control the spending habits of those in the school (which is as you say paternalistic, and I add just plain wrong) then do they really think that your handing out of underwear instead of cash is going to be effective in this regard? Especially if these people have drug/sex addictions I would bet you that they will find very creative ways of turning those tighty-whiteys into drugs and “gifts” for sex.
wrong + ineffective = very bad idea

]]> By: Quiet Griothttp://chrisblattman.com/2009/12/18/underpants-games/#comment-10828 Quiet Griot Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:20:20 +0000 http://chrisblattman.com/?p=3927#comment-10828 This is great. I wonder if something like this might not actually work better than using cash. The problem with money is that people use it for all different reasons, and it would be hard to control for all the potential behaviors that might not represent risk preferences. For example, maybe non-ex-coms who come home with a pile of money they won in a game will find relatives asking for a share, whereas ex-coms have fewer relatives around and face fewer such claims. Then you'd see ex-coms appearing to be more risk-loving, when in fact the result had nothing to do with risk. Similarly, poor people in Liberia are liable to be faced with all kinds of short-term circumstances that might affect their behavior in a game where cash was the reward but do not really reflect their underlying risk preferences (i.e. what if I'm risk averse but I need a lot of money right now for some reason?).With underpants, though, you don't really have those problems. As long as you control for wealth/income, it seems like you are probably getting a pretty good idea of underlying risk preferences, and probably a better one that you would if used cash. This is great. I wonder if something like this might not actually work better than using cash. The problem with money is that people use it for all different reasons, and it would be hard to control for all the potential behaviors that might not represent risk preferences. For example, maybe non-ex-coms who come home with a pile of money they won in a game will find relatives asking for a share, whereas ex-coms have fewer relatives around and face fewer such claims. Then you’d see ex-coms appearing to be more risk-loving, when in fact the result had nothing to do with risk. Similarly, poor people in Liberia are liable to be faced with all kinds of short-term circumstances that might affect their behavior in a game where cash was the reward but do not really reflect their underlying risk preferences (i.e. what if I’m risk averse but I need a lot of money right now for some reason?).

With underpants, though, you don’t really have those problems. As long as you control for wealth/income, it seems like you are probably getting a pretty good idea of underlying risk preferences, and probably a better one that you would if used cash.

]]> By: Chris Blattmanhttp://chrisblattman.com/2009/12/18/underpants-games/#comment-10827 Chris Blattman Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:42:56 +0000 http://chrisblattman.com/?p=3927#comment-10827 That was the NGO partner's decision. In their defense, there has been a drug and transactional sex problem on the campus, and they were fearful of exacerbating that. Boarding schools definitely tend to the paternalistic side. That was the NGO partner’s decision. In their defense, there has been a drug and transactional sex problem on the campus, and they were fearful of exacerbating that. Boarding schools definitely tend to the paternalistic side.

]]> By: Justin Kraushttp://chrisblattman.com/2009/12/18/underpants-games/#comment-10826 Justin Kraus Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:49:44 +0000 http://chrisblattman.com/?p=3927#comment-10826 Why no cash? I'll reserve judgement until after the answer, but it smells like condescension. These people are doing you a service, I hope the argument against paying them like you would anyone else i.e. in cash, is a pretty good one. Why no cash? I’ll reserve judgement until after the answer, but it smells like condescension. These people are doing you a service, I hope the argument against paying them like you would anyone else i.e. in cash, is a pretty good one.

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