Publication: Own and sibling effects of conditional cash transfer programs : theory and evidence from Cambodia
Date
2009-07-01
ISSN
Published
2009-07-01
Author(s)
Abstract
Conditional cash transfers have been
adopted by a large number of countries in the past decade.
Although the impacts of these programs have been studied
extensively, understanding of the economic mechanisms
through which cash and conditions affect household decisions
remains incomplete. This paper uses evidence from a program
in Cambodia, where eligibility varied substantially among
siblings in the same household, to illustrate these effects.
A model of schooling decisions highlights three different
effects of a child-specific conditional cash transfer: an
income effect, a substitution effect, and a displacement
effect. The model predicts that such a conditional cash
transfer will increase enrollment for eligible children -
due to all three effects - but have an ambiguous effect on
ineligible siblings. The ambiguity arises from the
interaction of a positive income effect with a negative
displacement effect. These predictions are shown to be
consistent with evidence from Cambodia, where the
child-specific program makes modest transfers, conditional
on school enrollment for children of middle-school age.
Scholarship recipients were more than 20 percentage points
more likely to be enrolled in school and 10 percentage
points less likely to work for pay. However, the school
enrollment and work of ineligible siblings was largely
unaffected by the program.
Citation
“Ferreira, Francisco H.G.; Filmer, Deon; Schady, Norbert. 2009. Own and sibling effects of
conditional cash transfer programs : theory and evidence
from Cambodia. Policy
Research Working Paper ; No. 5001. © http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/4192 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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