Technology-Enabled Agent Choice and Uptake of Social Assistance Programs: Evidence from India's Food Security Program.

This article examines the impact of technology-enabled agent choice on the uptake of commodities in social assistance programs, focusing on India’s Public Distribution System (PDS), which provides subsidized food grains to low-income households through designated agents. Using a natural experiment comparing two neighboring states—Andhra Pradesh and Telangana—that introduced agent choice at different times, the study finds that enabling beneficiaries to choose their agents increases the quantity of entitlements collected by 6.6%, primarily by encouraging agents to improve compliance with operating guidelines such as keeping shops open more consistently. The effect is significantly stronger in areas with higher agent density, highlighting the importance of accessible alternatives for choice to be effective. These findings suggest that limited forms of choice, where beneficiaries select the place of collection but the product and price remain fixed, can enhance welfare without the operational challenges associated with fully replacing in-kind transfers with cash transfers.