PurposeOver the past 25 years, direct cash transfers (often abbreviated as direct benefit transfer, DBT) to the poorer section of the society are gaining popularity over explicit subsidization of prices of essential commodities. One of the main arguments in favor of DBT is that it will cost the government less money and yet, the consumer benefit will be high. This paper aims to examine the proposition critically. Removal of price support exposes the consumers to market risk, and any income support programme must compensate the consumers accordingly.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a theoretical study where the model of a representative consumer under different specification of preferences is used to compare programme costs under price stabilization and income support programmes.FindingsWhat the authors show in the paper that the comparative cost of the programmes crucially depends on the nature of preferences, as well as the good under question. For certain specifications of the indirect utility function and the marginal utility of money, one programme may cost less than the other. Any policymaker must take account of such nuances before making a blanket prescription.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation is that only a representative consumer is taken.Practical implicationsThe specification of indirect utility function plays a decisive role in deciding, which one these two policies, DBT or stabilizing price at a fixed level.Originality/valueThe main novelty of the paper is in the different specifications of the indirect utility function considered in the paper.

中文翻译：

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价格稳定还是收入支持？计划的偏好和成本

目的在过去的 25 年中，向社会较贫困阶层的直接现金转移（通常缩写为直接福利转移，DBT）比对基本商品价格的明确补贴越来越受欢迎。支持 DBT 的主要论据之一是它会花费政府更少的钱，但消费者的利益会很高。本文旨在批判性地检验这一命题。取消价格支持会使消费者面临市场风险，任何收入支持计划都必须相应地补偿消费者。设计/方法/方法作者使用理论研究，其中使用不同偏好规范下的代表性消费者模型来比较计划成本在价格稳定和收入支持计划下。结果作者在论文中表明，项目的比较成本主要取决于偏好的性质，以及所讨论的商品。对于间接效用函数和货币边际效用的某些规范，一个程序的成本可能低于另一个程序。任何政策制定者都必须在制定一揽子处方之前考虑到这些细微差别。研究限制/影响主要限制是只采用有代表性的消费者。实际影响间接效用函数的规范在决定这两个政策中的哪一个方面起着决定性的作用，DBT或将价格稳定在一个固定的水平。原创性/价值论文的主要新颖之处在于论文中考虑的间接效用函数的不同规范。