When the money runs out: Do cash transfers have sustained effects on human capital accumulation?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Baird, Sarah; McIntosh, Craig; Ozler, Berk
• 署名单位: George Washington University; University of California System; University of California San Diego; The World Bank
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2019.04.004
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 169-185
• 关键词: cash transfers; Medium-term impacts; human capital; adolescents

摘要

The five-year evaluation of a cash transfer program targeted to adolescent females points to both the promise and limitations of cash transfers for persistent welfare gains. Conditional cash transfers produced sustained improvements in education and fertility for initially out-of-school females but caused no detectable gains in other outcomes. Significant declines in HIV prevalence, pregnancy and early marriage observed during the program among recipients of unconditional cash transfers (UCTs) evaporated quickly after the cessation of support. However, children born to UCT beneficiaries during the program had significantly higher height-for-age z-scores at follow-up pointing to the potential importance of cash during critical periods.