This major blow comes just as cash aid seemed poised to go mainstream. The tides were pushed toward cash aid, in part, by research. One study in Kenya found that every dollar in cash aid boosted total economic activity in the area by $2.60, as recipients spent the money they received. Those uncertainties and limitations haven’t stopped a surge in cash aid, about half of which came from U.S. sources, including USAID. “Consistently and overwhelmingly, we find that cash transfers, as they’re designed in low- and middle-income countries, don’t discourage work.”Still, fraud can happen.