Liten effekt av Tom’s shoes

For kvart par sko Tom’s shoes sel gir dei eitt par til ei fattig familie i eit utviklingsland. Dette har gitt firmaet enorm suksess, og gjort dei til favorittar også til forretningskonsulentar som ser dette som ein god forretningsmodell som både kan auke salet og bidra til ei betre verd.

Men det er altså ikkje sikkert at verda blir så mykje betre. Ein nyleg publisert studie har sett på effektane av denne praksisen, og funne at dei er svært små eller ikkje eksisterande.

We carry out a cluster-randomized trial among 1,578 children from 979 households in rural El Salvador to test the impacts of TOMS shoe donations on children’s time allocation, school attendance, health, self-esteem, and aid dependency. Results indicate high levels of usage and approval of the shoes by children in the treatment group, and time diaries show modest evidence that the donated shoes allocated children’s time toward outdoor activities. Difference-in-difference and ANCOVA estimates find generally insignificant impacts on overall health, foot health, and self-esteem but small positive impacts on school attendance for boys. Children receiving the shoes were significantly more likely to state that outsiders should provide for the needs of their family. Thus, in a context where most children already own at least one pair of shoes, the overall impact of the shoe donation program appears to be negligible, illustrating the importance of more careful targeting of in-kind donation programs.

Referanse: Wydick, Bruce, Elizabeth Katz, Flor Calvo, Felipe Gutierrez, and Brendan Janet. 2016. “Shoeing the Children: The Impact of the TOMS Shoe Donation Program in Rural El Salvador.” The World Bank Economic Review, September, lhw042. doi:10.1093/wber/lhw042.