Determinants of Cash Voucher Assistance Expenditure: Evidence from Venezuelan migrants in Colombia

 Cash Voucher Assistance (CVA) programs for in migration settings are relatively novel and have uniquecdynamics that are not yet well understood. Travellers may have a sense of urgency to continue moving forward with their journey, which influences how they spend their CVA. Using data from 9386 Venezuelan groups that received cash voucher assistance in Colombia from October 2022 to August 2023, we analyzed how beneficiary characteristics and vendor visibility influence expenditure behavior. Results show that the market shares of shop-types have a significant relationship with expenditure pattern, which implies that beneficiaries’ choices are strongly influenced by the visibility of vendors. The vulnerabilities of individuals also have significant relationship with their decision to spend in different vendor-types, although the relationship differs according to
the specific type of vulnerability indicated, and whether the vendor-type is a Pharmacy, Supermarket, or Food vendor. Lastly, we showed that the number of days since leaving home is an important factor in determining which vendors beneficiaries choose to visit. Future research involves integrating the results from this paper into a two-stage decision-making model on expenditure choice of travelling beneficiaries.