Rubio, Gloria M.Rawlings, Laura B.2013-12-192013-12-192005-03-01World Bank Research Observerdoi:10.1093/wbro/lki001https://hdl.handle.net/10986/16406Several 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.en-USCC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGOADMINISTRATIVE COSTSADULT EDUCATIONASSISTANCE PROGRAMSATTENDANCE RATESBASIC HEALTH CAREBASIC NEEDSBENEFICIARIESBENEFICIARYBENEFICIARY ASSESSMENTSBENEFIT LEVELSCALORIC INTAKECASH GRANTCASH GRANTSCASH TRANSFERCASH TRANSFER PROGRAMSCASH TRANSFERSCHILD GROWTHCHILD HEALTHCHILD LABORCHILD MORTALITYCHILD NUTRITIONCHILDBIRTHCHRONIC POVERTYCLINICSCONDITIONAL CASHCONDITIONAL TRANSFERCONDITIONAL TRANSFERSCONTROL GROUPSCOST-EFFECTIVENESSCOUNTERFACTUALDAY CAREDISASTERSDROUGHTECONOMIC CRISISECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC RECESSIONEDUCATION GRANTEDUCATION GRANTSEDUCATION SUBSIDIESEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEDUCATIONAL GRANTSEDUCATIONAL VOUCHERELIGIBILITY CRITERIAELIGIBLE BENEFICIARIESELIGIBLE COMMUNITIESENROLLMENT SUBSIDYEVALUATION ACTIVITIESEVALUATION RESULTSEXPERIMENTAL DESIGNEXPERIMENTAL METHODSEXTERNALITIESEXTREME POVERTYEXTREME POVERTY LINEFAMILIESFAMILY ASSISTANCEFISCAL CONSTRAINTSFLEXIBILITYFOOD CONSUMPTIONFOOD EXPENDITURESFOOD FOR EDUCATIONGEOGRAPHIC TARGETINGHEALTH CAREHEALTH CARE CENTERSHEALTH CARE SERVICESHEALTH CARE UTILIZATIONHEALTH CENTERHEALTH CENTERSHEALTH CLINICHEALTH CLINICSHEALTH EDUCATIONHEALTH INDICATORSHEALTH INSURANCEHEALTH OUTCOMESHEALTH SERVICESHEALTH STATUSHEALTH VOUCHERHEIGHT FOR AGEHOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTIONHOUSEHOLD ELIGIBILITYHOUSEHOLD INCOMEHOUSEHOLD LEVELHOUSEHOLD POVERTYHOUSEHOLD SURVEYHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENTHUMAN CAPITAL FORMATIONHUMAN CAPITAL INVESTMENTHUMAN CAPITAL INVESTMENTSHUMAN DEVELOPMENTIMMUNIZATIONIMPACT EVALUATIONIMPACT EVALUATIONSIMPACT INDICATORSINCOMEINCOME PROXIESINCOME REDISTRIBUTIONINCOME SUPPORTINCOME TRANSFERINCOME TRANSFERSINCOME-GENERATING ACTIVITIESINEQUALITYINFANT MORTALITYINSURANCE SCHEMESINTEGRATIONINTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICYINTERVENTIONKEY INFORMANT INTERVIEWSLACK OF INCENTIVESMALE HEALTHMALNOURISHED CHILDRENMALNUTRITIONMARKET FAILURESMEANS TESTMEANS TESTSMEDICINESMIGRATIONMONETARY INCENTIVESMONITORING VISITSMORTALITYNATIONAL COVERAGENATURAL DISASTERSNONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONSNUMBER OF CHILDRENNUTRITIONNUTRITION EDUCATIONNUTRITION GRANTSNUTRITION PROGRAMNUTRITION SUBSIDYNUTRITION TRAININGNUTRITIONAL STATUSORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITYOUTCOME INDICATORSPARTICIPATION RATESPEOPLE WITH DISABILITIESPER CAPITA CONSUMPTIONPERFORMANCE MONITORINGPOCKET EXPENDITURESPOLITICAL SUPPORTPOORPOOR AREASPOOR CHILDRENPOOR COUNTRIESPOOR FAMILIESPOOR HOUSEHOLDSPOOR PEOPLEPOSTNATAL CAREPOVERTY ALLEVIATIONPOVERTY GAPPOVERTY INCIDENCEPOVERTY LEVELSPOVERTY LINEPOVERTY REDUCTIONPOVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGIESPOVERTY SEVERITYPOVERTY STATUSPREGNANT WOMENPREVENTIVE HEALTHPREVENTIVE HEALTH CAREPRICE DISTORTIONSPRIMARY SCHOOLSPRIVATE TRANSFERSPROBABILITYPROGRAM EFFECTSPROGRAM EVALUATIONPROGRAM IMPACTSPROGRAM IMPLEMENTATIONPROTECTION SYSTEMSPUBLIC HEALTHRISK MITIGATIONRURALRURAL AREASRURAL COMMUNITIESSAFE WATERSAFETY NETSAFETY NET PROGRAMSSAFETY NETSSAMPLE SIZESANITATIONSAVINGSSCHOOL ATTENDANCESCHOOL ENROLLMENTSCHOOL ENROLLMENTSSCHOOL FEESSCHOOL MATERIALSSCHOOL SUBSIDIESSCHOOL SUBSIDYSCHOOL SUPPLIESSCHOOL VOUCHERSECONDARY SCHOOLSSERVICE DELIVERYSERVICE PROVIDERSSERVICE QUALITYSOCIAL ASSISTANCESOCIAL DEVELOPMENTSOCIAL POLICIESSOCIAL PROGRAMSOCIAL PROGRAMSSOCIAL PROTECTIONSOCIAL RISKSOCIAL SAFETY NETSOCIAL SERVICESSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTTARGETED TRANSFERSTARGETINGTARGETING MECHANISMSTRANSFER PROGRAMTREATMENT GROUPSVACCINATIONVOUCHERSVULNERABLE POPULATIONSWORK INCENTIVESWORKERSWORKFAREJournal ArticleWorld Bank10.1596/16406