Publication: Cash Transfers and Child Schooling : Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation of the Role of Conditionality
Date
2013-01
ISSN
Published
2013-01
Author(s)
Abstract
The authors conduct a randomized
experiment in rural Burkina Faso to estimate the impact of
alternative cash transfer delivery mechanisms on education.
The two-year pilot program randomly distributed cash
transfers that were either conditional or unconditional.
Families under the conditional schemes were required to have
their children ages 7-15 enrolled in school and attending
classes regularly. There were no such requirements under the
unconditional programs. The results indicate that
unconditional and conditional cash transfer programs have a
similar impact increasing the enrollment of children who are
traditionally favored by parents for school participation,
including boys, older children, and higher ability children.
However, the conditional transfers are significantly more
effective than the unconditional transfers in improving the
enrollment of "marginal children" who are
initially less likely to go to school, such as girls,
younger children, and lower ability children. Thus,
conditionality plays a critical role in benefiting children
who are less likely to receive investments from their parents.
Citation
“Akresh, Richard; de Walque, Damien; Kazianga, Harounan. 2013. Cash Transfers and Child Schooling : Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation of the Role of Conditionality. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 6340. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/65d8da5a-df57-56cd-8d18-cd7b521d54f0 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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