Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-swr86 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-20T18:25:57.809Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Impact of Conditional Cash Transfers on Educational Inequality of Opportunity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Andrés Ham
Andrés Ham*
Affiliation:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Most conditional cash transfer evaluations have focused on estimating program effects on schooling, consumption, and labor supply. Fewer studies have addressed these outcomes using a distributive lens. This article uses data from three programs in Latin America to obtain evidence of their impact on educational inequality of opportunity, measured using primary enrollment. The main results indicate that groups considered vulnerable gain more in terms of access to education and that these interventions help level the playing field. They do not eliminate inequality of opportunity but are certainly a useful complement to equity-enhancing policies.

Resumen

Resumen

Muchas evaluaciones existentes de los programas de transferencias condicionadas han estimado los efectos en tasas de asistencia escolar, consumo y oferta laboral. Sin embargo, menos trabajos han interpretado estos resultados mediante un lente distributivo. Este artículo utiliza datos de tres programas en América Latina para determinar sus impactos sobre la desigualdad en oportunidades educativas, medido por tasas de asistencia a la primaria. Los principales resultados indican que los grupos vulnerables ganan más en acceso educativo y que los programas ayudan a igualar oportunidades. Sin embargo, las inequidades no se eliminan por completo, lo cual indica que estos programas son un complemento a otras políticas igualitarias.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 49 , Issue 3 , 2014 , pp. 153 - 175
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 by the University of Texas Press

Footnotes

I would like to thank María Laura Alzúa, Marcelo Bérgolo, Guillermo Cruces, Leonardo Gasparini, Werner Baer, and Oscar Mitnik for helpful and fruitful discussions; three anonymous referees for their insightful comments and constructive criticism to an earlier draft; seminar participants at Universidad Nacional de la Plata and the University of Warwick. This article is an extension of a CEDLAS project financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and led by Laura Ripani, María Laura Alzúa, Guillermo Cruces, and Leonardo Gasparini, from which the data sources were drawn. The majority of this work was carried out during my time at the Center for Social, Labor, and Distributional Studies (CEDLAS), Universidad Nacional de la Plata, and with funding from the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions in this article are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CEDLAS, CONICET, the IDB, or the University of Illinois.

References

Aaberge, Rolf, Mogstad, Magne, and Peragine, Vito 2011 “Measuring Long-Term Inequality of Opportunity.” Journal of Public Economics 95 (3-4): 193–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alzúa, María Laura, Cruces, Guillermo, and Ripani, Laura 2012 “Welfare Programs and Labor Supply in Developing Countries: Experimental Evidence from Latin America.” Journal of Population Economics 26 (4): 1255–1284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Angrist, Joshua D., Imbens, Guido W., and Rubin, Donald B. 1996 “Identification of Causal Effects Using Instrumental Variables.” Journal of the American Statistical Association 91 (434): 444–455.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Angrist, Joshua D., and Pischke, Jörn-Steffen 2009 Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Attanasio, Orazio, Fitzsimons, Emla, Gomez, Ana, Gutierrez, Marta Isabel, Meghir, Costas, and Mesnard, Alice 2010 “Children's Schooling and Work in the Presence of a Conditional Cash Transfer Program in Rural Colombia.” Economic Development and Cultural Change 58 (2): 181–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barros, Ricardo Paes de, Ferreira, Francisco H. G., Vega, José R. Molinas, and Chanduvi, Jaime Saavedra 2009 Measuring Inequality of Opportunity in Latin America and the Caribbean. New York: Palgrave Macmillan; Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Behrman, Jere R. 2011 “How Much Might Human Capital Policies Affect Earnings Inequalities and Poverty?” Estudios de Economía 38 (1): 9–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Behrman, Jere R., Sengupta, Piyali, and Todd, Petra 2005 “Progressing through PROGRESA: An Impact Assessment of a School Subsidy Experiment in Rural Mexico.” Economic Development and Cultural Change 54 (1): 237–275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bertrand, Marianne, Duflo, Esther, and Mullainathan, Sendhil 2004 “How Much Should We Trust Difference in Differences Estimates?” Quarterly Journal of Economics 119 (1): 249–275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bourguignon, François, Ferreira, Francisco H. G., and Leite, Philippe G. 2003 “Conditional Cash Transfers, Schooling and Child Labor: Microsimulating Brazil's Bolsa Escola Program.” World Bank Economic Review 17 (2): 229–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bourguignon, François, Ferreira, Francisco H. G., and Walton, Michael 2007 “Equity, Efficiency and Inequality Traps: A Research Agenda.” Journal of Economic Inequality 5 (2): 235–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowles, Samuel, Smith, Eric Alden, and Mulder, Monique Borgerhoff 2010 “The Emergence and Persistence of Group Inequality in Premodern Societies.” Current Anthropology 51 (1): 7–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Breen, Richard, and Jonsson, Jan O. 2005 “Inequality of Opportunity in Comparative Perspective: Recent Research on Educational Attainment and Social Mobility.” Annual Review of Sociology 31 (1): 223–243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Busso, Matías, Cicowiez, Martín, and Gasparini, Leonardo 2005 Ethnicity and the Millennium Development Goals. La Plata: Universidad de la Plata; United Nations Development Programme.Google Scholar
Carrillo, Paul E., and Jarrín, Juan Ponce 2008 “Efficient Delivery of Subsidies to the Poor: Improving the Design of a Cash Transfer Program in Ecuador.” Journal of Development Economics 90 (2): 276–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chant, Sylvia 1985 “Single-Parent Families: Choice or Constraint? The Formation of Female-Headed Households in Mexican Shanty Towns.” Development and Change 16 (4): 635–656.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Copestake, James G. 2008 “Multiple Dimensions of Social Assistance: The Case of Peru's ‘Glass of Milk’ Programme.” Journal of Development Studies 44 (4): 545–561.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cruces, Guillermo, and Gasparini, Leonardo 2008 Programas sociales en Argentina: Alternativas para la ampliación de la cobertura. CEDLAS Working Paper No. 77. Buenos Aires: Universidad Nacional de la Plata.Google Scholar
Cruces, Guillermo, Moreno, Juan Martín, Ringold, Dena, and Rofman, Rafael, eds. 2008 Los programas sociales en Argentina hacia el Bicentenário: Visiones y perspectivas. Buenos Aires: Banco Mundial.Google Scholar
Dammert, Ana C. 2009 “Heterogeneous Impacts of Conditional Cash Transfers: Evidence from Nicaragua.” Economic Development and Cultural Change 58 (1): 53–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Janvry, Alain, and Sadoulet, Elisabeth 2006 “Making Conditional Cash Transfer Programs More Efficient: Designing for Maximum Effect of the Conditionality.” World Bank Economic Review 20 (1): 1–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Djebbari, Habiba, and Smith, Jeffrey 2008 “Heterogeneous Impacts in PROGRESA.” Journal of Econometrics 145 (1-2): 64–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donald, Stephen G., and Lang, Kevin 2007 “Inference with Differences in Differences and Other Panel Data.” Reviezu of Economics and Statistics 89 (2): 221–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duelos, Jean-Yves, Sahn, David E., and Younger, Stephen D. 2011 “Partial Multidimensional Inequality Orderings.” Journal of Public Economics 95 (3-4): 225–238.Google Scholar
Duflo, Esther, Glennerster, Rachel, and Kremer, Michael 2008 “Using Randomization in Development Economics Research: A Toolkit.” In Handbook of Development Economics, vol. 4, 5–61. New York: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Ferreira, Francisco H. G., and Gignoux, Jérémie 2011 “The Measurement of Inequality of Opportunity: Theory and an Application to Latin America.” Review of Income and Wealth 57 (4): 622–657.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Filmer, Deon, and Schady, Norbert 2011 “Does More Cash in Conditional Cash Transfer Programs Always Lead to Larger Impacts on School Attendance?” Journal of Development Economics 96 (1): 150–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fiszbein, Ariel, and Schady, Norbert 2009 Conditional Cash Transfers: Reducing Present and Future Poverty. World Bank Policy Research Report. Washington, DC: World Bank.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fleurbaey, Marc 2008 Fairness, Responsibility and Welfare. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gasparini, Leonardo, Cruces, Guillermo, and Tornarolli, Leopoldo 2011 “Recent Trends in Income Inequality in Latin America.” Economía 11 (2): 147–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gertler, Paul 2004 “Do Conditional Cash Transfers Improve Child Health? Evidence from PROGRESA's Control Randomized Experiment.” American Economic Review 94 (2): 336–341.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gindling, T. H., and Oviedo, Luis 2008 “Single Mothers and Poverty in Costa Rica.” IZA Discussion Paper 3286. Bonn: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glewwe, Paul, and Olinto, Pedro 2004 “Evaluating the Impact of Conditional Cash Transfers on Schooling: An Experimental Analysis of Honduras's PRAF-II Program.” Final Report for USAID. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.Google Scholar
Handa, Sudhanshu, and Davis, Benjamin 2006 “The Experience of Conditional Cash Transfers in Latin America and the Caribbean.” Development Policy Review 24 (5): 513–536.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Handa, Sudhanshu, Huerta, Mari-Carmen, Perez, Raúl, and Straffon, Beatriz 2001 “Poverty, Inequality, and Spillover in Mexico's Education, Health, and Nutrition Program.” FCND Discussion Paper 101. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.Google Scholar
Jones, Nicola, Vargas, Rosana, and Villar, Eliana 2008 “Cash Transfers to Tackle Childhood Poverty and Vulnerability: An Analysis of Peru's Juntos Programme.” Environment and Urbanization 20 (1): 255–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keane, Michael P., and Roemer, John E. 2009 Assessing Policies to Equalize Opportunity Using an Equilibrium Model of Educational and Occupational Choices.“ Journal of Public Economics 93 (7-8): 879–898.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larrañaga, Osvaldo, Contreras, Dante, and Tagle, Jaime Ruiz 2012 “Impact Evaluation of Chile Solidario: Lessons and Policy Recommendations.” Journal of Latin American Studies 44 (2): 347–372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Le Franc, Arnaud, Pistolesi, Nicolas, and Trannoy, Alain 2008 “Inequality of Opportunities vs. Inequality of Outcomes: Are Western Societies All Alike?” Review of Income and Wealth 54 (4): 513–546.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Le Franc, Arnaud, Pistolesi, Nicolas, and Trannoy, Alain 2009 “Equality of Opportunity and Luck: Definitions and Testable Conditions with an Application to Income in France.” Journal of Public Economics 93 (11-12): 1189–1207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levy, Dan, and Ohls, Jim 2010 “Evaluation of Jamaica's PATH Conditional Cash Transfer Programme.” Journal of Development Effectiveness 2 (4): 421–441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maluccio, John A., and Flores, Rafael 2005 Impact Evaluation of a Conditional Cash Transfer Program: The Nicaraguan Red de Protección Social. Research Report No. 141. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.Google Scholar
Mejía, Daniel, and St-Pierre, Marc 2008 “Unequal Opportunities and Human Capital Formation.” Journal of Development Economics 86 (2): 395–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, Charity 2008 “Assessing Honduras' CCT Programme PRAF, Programa de Asignación Familiar: Expected and Unexpected Realities.” Country Study 15, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth, UNDP. Brasilia: International Poverty Centre.Google Scholar
O'Gorman, Melanie 2010 “Educational Disparity and the Persistence of the Black-White Wage Gap in the US.” Economics of Education Review 29 (4): 526–542.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peragine, Vito 2004a “Measuring and Implementing Equality of Opportunity for Income.” Social Choice and Welfare 22 (1): 187–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peragine, Vito 2004b “Ranking Income Distributions According to Equality of Opportunity.” Journal of Economic Inequality 2 (1): 11–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peragine, Vito 2011 “Review of ‘Measuring Inequality of Opportunity in Latin America and the Caribbean’ by Ricardo Paes de Barros, Francisco H. G. Ferreira, José R. Molinas Vega and Jaime Saavedra Chanduvi, World Bank and Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.” Journal of Economic Inequality 9 (1): 137–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peragine, Vito, and Serlenga, Laura 2008 “Higher Education and Equality of Opportunity in Italy.” In Inequality and Opportunity: Papers from the Second ECINEQ Society Meeting, edited by Bishop, John A. and Zheng, Buhong, 67–97. Research on Economic Inequality 16. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing Group.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rawlings, Laura B., and Rubio, Gloria M. 2005 “Evaluating the Impact of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs.” World Bank Research Observer 20 (1): 29–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roemer, John E. 1998 Equality of Opportunity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Savaglio, Ernesto 2006 Multidimensional Inequality with Variable Population Size.“ Economic Theory 28 (1): 85–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schultz, T. Paul 2004 “School Subsidies for the Poor: Evaluating the Mexican Progresa Poverty Program.” Journal of Development Economics 74 (1): 199–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skoufias, Emmanuel, Lindert, Kathy, and Shapiro, Joseph 2010 “Globalization and the Role of Public Transfers in Redistributing Income in Latin America and the Caribbean.” World Development 38 (6): 895–907.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skoufias, Emmanuel, and Parker, Susan W. 2001 “Conditional Cash Transfers and Their Impact on Child Work and Schooling: Evidence from the PROGRESA Program in Mexico.” Economía 2 (1): 45–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soares, Fábio Veras, Ribas, Rafael Perez, and Osório, Rafael Guerreiro 2010 “Evaluating the Impact of Brazil's Bolsa Família: Cash Transfer Programs in Comparative Perspective.” Latin American Research Review 45 (2): 173–190.Google Scholar
Soares, Sergei, Osório, Rafael Guerreiro, Soares, Fábio Veras, Medeiros, Marcela, and Zepeda, Eduardo 2009 “Conditional Cash Transfers in Brazil, Chile and Mexico: Impact upon Inequality.” Estudios Económicos, special issue (2009): 207–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart, Frances 2009 “Horizontal Inequality: Two Types of Trap.” Journal of Human Development and Capabilities 10 (3): 315–340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wendelspiess, Florian 2010 “The Impact of Oportunidades on Inequality of Opportunity in Rural and Urban Areas in Mexico.” Master's thesis, University of Lausanne.Google Scholar
Yalonetzky, Gaston 2009 “Comparing Economic Mobility with Heterogeneity Indices: An Application to Education in Peru.” OPHI Working Paper No. 33, Department of International Development, University of Oxford.Google Scholar
Yalonetzky, Gaston 2012 “A Dissimilarity Index of Multidimensional Inequality of Opportunity.” Journal of Economic Inequality 10 (3): 343–373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar