Healthcare at the beginning of life and child survival: Evidence from a cash transfer experiment in Nigeria

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Okeke, Edward N.; Abubakar, Isa S.
• 署名单位: RAND Corporation; Bayero University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2019.102426
• 发表日期: 2020
• 关键词: cash transfers; Maternal health services; Child mortality; Developing countries

摘要

Households in poor countries are encouraged (and sometimes coerced) to increase investments in formal health care services during pregnancy and childbirth. Is this good policy? The answer to a large extent depends on its effects on child welfare. We study the effects of a cash transfer program in Nigeria in which households were offered a payment of $14 conditioned on uptake of health services. We show that the transfer led to a large increase in uptake and a substantial increase in child survival driven by a decrease in in-utero child deaths. We present evidence suggesting that the key driver is prenatal health investments.