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The effect of gender-targeted conditional cash transfers on household expenditures: Evidence from a randomized experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Alex Armand

    (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Nova School of Business and Economics)

  • Orazio Attanasio

    (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Yale University)

  • Pedro Carneiro

    (Institute for Fiscal Studies and University College London)

  • Valérie Lechene

    (Institute for Fiscal Studies and University College London)

Abstract

This paper studies the differential effect of targeting cash transfers to men or women on the structure of household expenditures on non-durables. We study a policy intervention in the Republic of Macedonia, offering cash transfers to poor households, conditional on having their children attending secondary school. The recipient of the transfer is randomized across municipalities to be either the household head or the mother. Using data collected to evaluate the conditional cash transfer program, we show that the gender of the recipient has an effect on the structure of expenditure shares. Targeting transfers to women increases the expenditure share on food by about 4 to 5%. To study the allocation of expenditures within the food basket, we estimate a demand system for food and we find that targeting payments to mothers induces, for different food categories, not only a significant intercept shift, but also a change in the slope of the Engel curve.

Suggested Citation

  • Alex Armand & Orazio Attanasio & Pedro Carneiro & Valérie Lechene, 2016. "The effect of gender-targeted conditional cash transfers on household expenditures: Evidence from a randomized experiment," IFS Working Papers W16/14, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:ifs:ifsewp:16/14
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    Keywords

    CCT; intra-household; gender; expenditure;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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