Cash Transfers and Child Schooling : Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation of the Role of Conditionality

The authors conduct a randomized experiment in rural Burkina Faso to estimate the impact of alternative cash transfer delivery mechanisms on education. The two-year pilot program randomly distributed cash transfers that were either conditional or unconditional. Families under the conditional schemes were required to have their children ages 7-15 enrolled in school and attending classes regularly. There were no such requirements under the unconditional programs. The results indicate that unconditional and conditional cash transfer programs have a similar impact increasing the enrollment of children who are traditionally favored by parents for school participation, including boys, older children, and higher ability children. However, the conditional transfers are significantly more effective than the unconditional transfers in improving the enrollment of "marginal children" who are initially less likely to go to school, such as girls, younger children, and lower ability children. Thus, conditionality plays a critical role in benefiting children who are less likely to receive investments from their parents.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Akresh, Richard, de Walque, Damien, Kazianga, Harounan
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2013-01
Subjects:	ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, ACADEMIC YEAR, ACCOUNT, ACHIEVEMENT, ACHIEVEMENT TESTS, ADOLESCENT GIRLS, AGE GROUPS, ATTENDANCE RATE, ATTENDANCE RATES, CHILD DEVELOPMENT, CHILD EDUCATION, CHILD FOSTERING, CHILD LABOR, CHILDREN START SCHOOL, CHILDREN UNDER AGE, COGNITIVE ABILITY, COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT, CONDITIONING, CONTROL GROUPS, DROP-OUTS, DROPOUT RATES, EDUCATION OUTCOMES, EDUCATION POLICY, EDUCATION SPECIALISTS, EDUCATION SYSTEM, EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT, EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES, ENROLLMENT, ENROLLMENT DATA, ENROLLMENT FOR CHILDREN, ENROLLMENT INCREASES, ENROLLMENT OF CHILDREN, ENROLLMENT RATE, ENROLLMENT RATES, FINAL GRADE, FINAL GRADES, FORMAL SCHOOLING, GENDER, GENDER DIFFERENCE, GENDER GAP, GENDER GAP IN EDUCATION, GIRLS, GRADE REPETITION, HEALTH INTERVENTIONS, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, INTELLIGENCE, INTERVENTIONS, LEARNING, LEARNING OUTCOMES, LEVEL OF EDUCATION, LIVING CONDITIONS, NET ATTENDANCE RATIO, NUTRITION, OFFICIAL SCHOOL AGE, OLDER CHILDREN, PERSONALITY, PERSONALITY TRAITS, PRIMARY SCHOOL, PRIMARY SCHOOL ENROLLMENT, PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS, PRIMARY SCHOOLING, PRIMARY SCHOOLS, PRIMARY-SCHOOL, PRIMARY-SCHOOL-AGE, PRIMARY-SCHOOL-AGE POPULATION, PROBLEM SOLVING, PSYCHOLOGY, RADIO, READING, RECOGNITION, RETURNS TO EDUCATION, RURAL AREAS, RURAL CHILDREN, SCHOOL ATTENDANCE, SCHOOL CHILDREN, SCHOOL DATA, SCHOOL DAY, SCHOOL DAYS, SCHOOL FEES, SCHOOL GOING, SCHOOL MEALS, SCHOOL PARTICIPATION, SCHOOL QUALITY, SCHOOL TEACHERS, SCHOOL YEAR, SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN, SCHOOL-AGE POPULATION, SCHOOLING, SCHOOLS, SECONDARY SCHOOL, SECONDARY SCHOOLS, SOCIAL PROTECTION, SOCIAL SAFETY, TEACHER, TEACHERS, TEACHING, TEACHING MATERIALS, TEXTBOOK, VILLAGE LEVEL, YOUNG BOYS, YOUNG CHILDREN, YOUNG GIRLS, YOUNGER CHILDREN,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/01/17201151/cash-transfers-child-schooling-evidence-randomized-evaluation-role-conditionality https://hdl.handle.net/10986/13127
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