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Impact evaluation of a conditional cash transfer program

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  • Maluccio, John A.
  • Flores, Rafael

Abstract

"This paper presents the main findings of a quantitative evaluation of the Red de Protección Social (RPS), a conditional cash transfer program in Nicaragua, against its primary objectives. These included supplementing income to increase household expenditures on food, reducing primary school desertion, and improving the health care and nutritional status of children under age 5. The evaluation design is based on a randomized, community-based intervention with measurements before and after the intervention in both treatment and control communities. Where possible, we erred on the side of assessing effects in conservative manners, for example, in the calculation of standard errors and the treatment of possible control group contamination. Overall, we find that RPS had positive (or favorable) and significant double-difference estimated average effects on a broad range of indicators and outcomes. Where it did not, it was often due to similar, smaller improvements in the control group that appear to have been stimulated indirectly by the program. Most of the estimated effects were larger for the extreme poor. The findings presented here played an important role in the decision to continue this effective program." Authors' Abstract

Suggested Citation

  • Maluccio, John A. & Flores, Rafael, 2004. "Impact evaluation of a conditional cash transfer program," FCND briefs 184, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    • Handle: RePEc:fpr:fcndbr:184
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    1. Caldes, Natalia & Coady, David & Maluccio, John A., 2006. "The cost of poverty alleviation transfer programs: A comparative analysis of three programs in Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 818-837, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Karen Macours & Norbert Schady & Renos Vakis, 2012. "Cash Transfers, Behavioral Changes, and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(2), pages 247-273, April.
    2. Seth R. Gitter & Bradford L. Barham, 2008. "Women's Power, Conditional Cash Transfers, and Schooling in Nicaragua," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 22(2), pages 271-290, May.
    3. Caldés, Natàlia & Coady, David P. & Maluccio, John A., 2004. "The cost of poverty alleviation transfer programs," FCND briefs 174, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. Duflo, Esther & Glennerster, Rachel & Kremer, Michael, 2008. "Using Randomization in Development Economics Research: A Toolkit," Handbook of Development Economics, in: T. Paul Schultz & John A. Strauss (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 61, pages 3895-3962, Elsevier.
    5. Ranjeeta Thomas, 2012. "Conditional Cash Transfers To Improve Education And Health: An Ex Ante Evaluation Of Red De Protección Social, Nicaragua," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(10), pages 1136-1154, October.
    6. Gustavo J. Bobonis, 2011. "The Impact of Conditional Cash Transfers on Marriage and Divorce," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(2), pages 281-312.
    7. Gustavo J. Bobonis & Melissa González-Brenes & Roberto Castro, 2013. "Public Transfers and Domestic Violence: The Roles of Private Information and Spousal Control," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 179-205, February.
    8. Carlos Alviar & Roger Pearson, 2009. "Cash Transfers for Vulnerable Children in Kenya: From Political Choice to Scale Up," Working papers 0902, UNICEF,Division of Policy and Strategy.
    9. Christina Paxson & Norbert Schady, 2007. "Does Money Matter? The Effects of Cash Transfers on Child Health and Development in Rural Ecuador," Working Papers 145, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    10. Nora Lustig, 2011. "The Knowledge Bank and poverty reduction," Working Papers 209, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    11. Guy Stecklov & Paul Winters & Jessica Todd & Ferdinando Regalia, 2006. "Demographic Externalities from Poverty Programs in Developing Countries: Experimental Evidence from Latin America," Working Papers 2006-01, American University, Department of Economics.
    12. Amanda Glassman & Jessica Todd, 2007. "Performance-Based Incentives for Health: Conditional Cash Transfer Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean," Working Papers 120, Center for Global Development.
    13. Maluccio, John A., 2005. "Coping with the “coffee crisis” in Central America: The Role of the Nicaraguan Red de Protección Social," FCND discussion papers 188, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    14. repec:ilo:ilowps:468393 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Schady, Norbert & Rosero, José, 2008. "Are cash transfers made to women spent like other sources of income?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 246-248, December.
    16. Ana C. Dammert, 2009. "Heterogeneous Impacts of Conditional Cash Transfers: Evidence from Nicaragua," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 58(1), pages 53-83, October.
    17. Ponce, Juan & Bedi, Arjun S., 2010. "The impact of a cash transfer program on cognitive achievement: The Bono de Desarrollo Humano of Ecuador," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 116-125, February.
    18. Del Carpio, Ximena V., 2008. "Does child labor always decrease with income ? an evaluation in the context of a development program in Nicaragua," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4694, The World Bank.
    19. Edmonds, Eric V. & Shrestha, Maheshwor, 2014. "You get what you pay for: Schooling incentives and child labor," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 196-211.
    20. Langat, Cheruiyot Peter, 2016. "Intrahousehold Decision Making And Implications On Food Security Among Smallholder Farmers In Chepalungu Constituency, Bomet County, Kenya," Research Theses 265575, Collaborative Masters Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    21. Quisumbing, Agnes R. & McClafferty, Bonnie, 2006. "Using gender research in development: food security in practice," Food security in practice technical guide series 2, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    22. repec:ilo:ilowps:468392 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Felipe Barrera-Osorio & Marianne Bertrand & Leigh L. Linden & Francisco Perez-Calle, 2008. "Conditional Cash Transfers in Education Design Features, Peer and Sibling Effects Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Colombia," NBER Working Papers 13890, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. David Fielding, 2013. "How Much Does Women's Empowerment Influence their Wellbeing? Evidence from Africa," Working Papers 1307, University of Otago, Department of Economics, revised Apr 2013.
    25. Charity Moore, 2009. "Nicaragua’s Red de Protección Social: An Exemplary but Short-Lived Conditional Cash Transfer Programme," Research Report 17, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth.

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