Publication: Evaluating the Impact of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs
Date
2005-03-01
ISSN
Published
2005-03-01
Author(s)
Abstract
Several developing economies have
recently introduced conditional cash transfer programs,
which provide money to poor families contingent on certain
behavior, usually investments in human capital, such as
sending children to school or bringing them to health
centers. The approach is both an alternative to more
traditional social assistance programs and a demand-side
complement to the supply of health and education services.
Unlike most development initiatives, conditional cash
transfer programs have been subject to rigorous evaluations
of their effectiveness using experimental or
quasi-experimental methods. Evaluation results for programs
launched in Colombia, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua,
and Turkey reveal successes in addressing many of the
failures in delivering social assistance, such as weak
poverty targeting, disincentive effects, and limited welfare
impacts. There is clear evidence of success from the first
generation of programs in Colombia, Mexico, and Nicaragua in
increasing enrollment rates, improving preventive health
care, and raising household consumption. Many questions
remain unanswered, however, including the potential of
conditional cash transfer programs to function well under
different conditions, to address a broader range of
challenges among poor and vulnerable populations, and to
prevent the intergenerational transmission of poverty.
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Citation
“Rawlings, Laura B.; Rubio, Gloria M.. 2005. Evaluating the Impact of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs. World Bank Research Observer. © Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16406 License: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO.”
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Cited 303 times in Scopus (View citations)