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Article
Publication date: 1 January 2021

Helena Corrales-Herrero, Martina Him Camaño, Belén Miranda-Escolar and Olga Ogando Canabal

The purpose of this paper seeks to gauge the impact of the Red de Oportunidades programme on the school attendance of children from households that participate in the programme.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper seeks to gauge the impact of the Red de Oportunidades programme on the school attendance of children from households that participate in the programme.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to measure the impact of the programme, the authors apply propensity score matching, a quasi-experimental technique that allows us to find an appropriate control group to compare with the treatment group.

Findings

Results show that the programme does not always manage to bring into line school attendance of children from families involved in the programme with that of children from families who are not. Nevertheless, differences are still evident in terms of age, gender and geographical area.

Practical implications

Conditional cash transfer programmes should be designed carefully, taking into account a great variety of factors such as geographical characteristics, educational resources and infrastructure, not only to replicate programmes that have proved to be effective in other countries. In this sense, it seems that the impact of cash transfers on primary school attendance can be wholly attributed to the programme, implying that it is better to allocate more resources to groups in terms of age and gender where education is still not universal.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first time the impact of conditional cash transfers on school attendance has been examined in a country that still displays major geographical differences in terms of poverty, namely, Panama. The Red de Oportunidades programme has barely been studied.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 48 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 December 2016

Muhamed Zulkhibri

The purpose of this paper is to critically analyse the relevance of directly targeted poverty reduction programmes in Muslim countries by means of conditional cash transfers

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to critically analyse the relevance of directly targeted poverty reduction programmes in Muslim countries by means of conditional cash transfers (CCTs). The paper analyses the best practices and lessons learnt to date and explores the practical issues to implement CCT poverty reduction programmes in Muslim countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology is based on the qualitative assessment drawn from CCTs implementation in Muslim countries, namely Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Turkey. The methodology also identifies the practical issues including the use of Islamic instruments to implement CCT poverty reduction programmes.

Findings

The analysis in Muslim countries suggests that CCT programmes have had a positive effect and that the costs are relatively affordable if implemented with appropriate programme designs. In many cases, there have been positive secondary effects over and above the primary goal of poverty reduction. The paper also argues that the concept of CCTs is in line with the underlying principle of Islam to eradicate poverty via cash distribution approach.

Originality/value

A decade long experience in some Muslim countries demonstrates that social cash transfers (including CCTs) have a significant impact on reducing poverty and vulnerability and promoting human development. Since none of CCT programmes in Muslim countries explore and integrate the potential of Islamic instruments (Zakat, Sadaqat, Awqaf and Qard Al-Hassan), it is timely for governments, multinational development institutions and non-profit organizations to utilize these instruments to tackling poverty.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 43 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 30 September 2022

Kubilayhan Erman

Being a child in an undeveloped country with a broken social structure actually means bearing the heavy burden of a precarious life and struggling to survive at an earlier age…

Abstract

Being a child in an undeveloped country with a broken social structure actually means bearing the heavy burden of a precarious life and struggling to survive at an earlier age compared to the peers living in developed and wealthy countries. The majority of children in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region struggle for food, security, a good education, a good life and a better future. In LAC, a heterogeneous region in terms of economy and society, childhood mostly signifies a fragile period of an individual's life due to poverty, inequality and insecurity. Within this context, this study aims to explore the compatibility of conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes implemented in the region to fight child poverty. The leading premises of the study are that the majority of individuals under the age of 18 strive to pursue their lives in unsuitable circumstances and that many governments take childhood and juvenile problems as a matter of concern and try to find solutions to challenges in this respect. Furthermore, the main hypothesis in this regard is that CCT programmes – though the realisation and the impacts vary depending on the countries – could produce some positive effects in fighting child poverty despite the would-be flaws in the implementation processes.

Details

Being a Child in a Global World
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-240-0

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 10 October 2017

Francisco H. G. Ferreira, Deon Filmer and Norbert Schady

Conditional cash transfers (CCT) have been adopted in many countries over the last two decades. Although the impacts of these programs have been studied extensively, understanding…

Abstract

Conditional cash transfers (CCT) have been adopted in many countries over the last two decades. Although the impacts of these programs have been studied extensively, understanding of the economic mechanisms through which cash and conditions affect household decisions remains incomplete. In particular, relatively little is known about the effects of these programs on intra-household allocation decisions. This chapter uses evidence from a program in Cambodia, where eligibility varied substantially among siblings in the same household, to illustrate these effects. A simple model of schooling decisions highlights three different effects of a child-specific CCT: an income effect, a substitution effect, and a displacement effect. The model predicts that such a CCT should unambiguously increase enrollment for eligible children, but have an ambiguous effect on ineligible siblings. The ambiguity arises from the interaction of a positive income effect with a negative displacement effect. These predictions are shown to be consistent with evidence from Cambodia, where the CESSP Scholarship Program (CSP) makes modest transfers, conditional on school enrollment for children of middle-school age. Scholarship recipients were more than 20 percentage points more likely to be enrolled in school, and 10 percentage points less likely to work for pay. However, the school enrollment and work of ineligible siblings was largely unaffected by the program. A possible fourth effect, operating through non-pecuniary spillovers of the intervention among siblings, remains largely outside the scope of the analysis, although there is some tentative evidence to suggest that it might also be at work.

Details

Research on Economic Inequality
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-521-4

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 January 2022

Alhassan Abdul-Wakeel Karakara and Ernest Amoabeng Ortsin

Ghana has implemented different kinds of pro-poor program and policies since its independence to reduce poverty. The Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) is one of such…

Abstract

Purpose

Ghana has implemented different kinds of pro-poor program and policies since its independence to reduce poverty. The Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) is one of such program. LEAP is a social cash transfer program and its implementation has been under the auspices of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection since 2008. It provides direct cash and health insurance coverage for extremely poor households across the country to alleviate short-term poverty and encourage long-term human capital development. This paper examines the LEAP program in terms of how it has achieved its aim and the opportunities for improvement.

Design/methodology/approach

Primary data were obtained from interviews of 110 beneficiaries of the program. The study proposes a conceptual framework that links poverty reduction and social policies to assist researchers analyze pro-poor or social cash transfer program.

Findings

The findings show that the program is challenged with administrative bureaucracies, irregular inflow of funds, perceived political interferences, inconsistent implementation strategies and low value of the cash transfer (which results in little or no impact on consumption). However, the data also show that LEAP has positive impacts on nonconsumption spending like children's schooling. The program' exit strategy does not impact much on beneficiaries to allow them exit without the tendency of being poor.

Practical implications

This paper discussed the LEAP program as a social cash transfer to the poor in Ghana. The study constructed a conceptual framework to help researchers and practitioners analyze the implementation of pro-poor interventions. This conceptualization allows for cash transfer program to empower beneficiaries and exits them to allow for other beneficiaries to enroll, ensuring reduction in poverty over time. Generally, the beneficiaries have benefited from the LEAP in the areas of consumption, education and healthcare with few beneficiaries being able to accumulate some few assets. The LEAP program has no exit plan.

Originality/value

This study adds to literature by offering a conceptual framework to help researchers and policy makers in dealing with social assistance policies to the poor. The study also gave an insight into how pro-poor policy strategies could be crafted.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 49 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 June 2020

Silvana Mariano

This study addresses the importance of paid work for the autonomy of poor women in the Bolsa Família Programme (BFP), Brazil. The aim of this study is to consider the influence…

Abstract

Purpose

This study addresses the importance of paid work for the autonomy of poor women in the Bolsa Família Programme (BFP), Brazil. The aim of this study is to consider the influence that BFP may have on women seeking paid work, by comparing the situation and the perceptions of women who receive Bolsa Família (BF) with those of women who fall within this same profile but are not included in the programme.

Design/methodology/approach

The aim of this study is to consider the influence that BFP may have on women seeking paid work, by comparing the situation and the perceptions of women who receive Bolsa Família (BF) with those of women who fall within this same profile but are not included in the programme. Data were produced from a case study, using a non-probability sample and structured individual interviews in a large city in the south of Brazil.

Findings

CCTs designed in the moulds of the BFP, despite its relevance for alleviating poverty, do not have the potential to empower women or for their autonomy, since they do not contribute towards tackling the barriers resulting from the interaction between paid and unpaid labour, and gender determinants in this interaction.

Research limitations/implications

The methodology adopted, with content analysis, allows the collection of the research group participants’ experiences and perceptions, considering the specific nature of the material and symbolic context investigated. However, it does not allow for broad generalizations on the relation between CCT programmes and these women`s paid labour. Within the limits of the inferences produced by the content analysis, this study does enable the theories of ‘laziness’ as a risk resulting from social assistance to be dispelled.

Originality/value

Given these findings, the paper reiterates the importance of taking a critical view of the family when drafting development policies.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 40 no. 11/12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 19 May 2010

Andrea R. Ferro, Ana Lúcia Kassouf and Deborah Levison

Conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs have become widespread in poor countries as a way to alleviate current poverty and provide investments in human capital that improve…

Abstract

Conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs have become widespread in poor countries as a way to alleviate current poverty and provide investments in human capital that improve families’ living conditions in the long-term. The first goal is accomplished when poor families receive money from governments on a monthly basis. The second goal is reached by conditioning the cash transfers on certain behaviors such as children's regular school attendance. However, these programs may also have impacts on time use decisions within beneficiary households, particularly with respect to time spent working. Using data from 2003, we measure the impact of the Brazilian Bolsa Escola CCT program on children's and parents’ labor status using the econometric framework of policy evaluation. Probit regressions and propensity score-matching methods show that this program reduces the probability of work for children aged 6–15, increases school enrollment, and increases mother and father participation in the labor force.

Details

Child Labor and the Transition between School and Work
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-001-9

Article
Publication date: 30 May 2023

Fariha Farjana, Md. Karimul Islam, Rabeya Khanam and Tasnim Murad Mamun

Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) aims to assist expectant mothers in low-income households. It might address the insufficient prenatal and postnatal healthcare services in rural…

Abstract

Purpose

Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) aims to assist expectant mothers in low-income households. It might address the insufficient prenatal and postnatal healthcare services in rural areas of low-income nations, including Bangladesh. However, the effectiveness of such intervention is rarely investigated in rural Bangladesh. The study aims to explore the impact of CCT on certain health outcomes of expectant mothers in southwestern rural Bangladesh.

Design/methodology/approach

The study applied the quasi-experimental Propensity Score Matching method to assess the effectiveness of CCT in health outcomes of expectant mothers. The authors also deployed logistic regression to explore the predictors of three health issues – blood pressure, hemoglobin adequacy and morning sickness.

Findings

The Average Treatment Effect shows that the CCT program significantly improves maternal health by lowering the extent of blood pressure and morning sickness and enhancing the hemoglobin adequacy of the CCT recipient women compared to the non-recipient. The result reveals that CCT beneficiary status as well as the education and immunization are positively and significantly associated with normal blood pressure and hemoglobin adequacy. CCT is also a negative predictor of morning sickness. The study recommends to expand the coverage of the CCT program and also emphasize on the improvement of education, training and immunization for rural pregnant women.

Originality/value

To assist in scaling purchasing power and nutritious food for poor pregnant and lactating mothers in low-income households, “Nobojatra” project initiated the CCTs in the southwest region of Bangladesh. Yet, the impact of such cash transfers on their health outcomes is rarely explored in the context of Bangladesh. This study provides evidence regarding the effectiveness of cash transfers to pregnant women of low-income households in rural Bangladesh.

Peer review

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-08-2022-0512

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 50 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 May 2018

Arief Anshory Yusuf

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of unconditional cash transfers in Indonesia on poverty and inequality while, unlike much of the previous literature on the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of unconditional cash transfers in Indonesia on poverty and inequality while, unlike much of the previous literature on the welfare impact of such transfers, acknowledging that they will have both a direct effect and an economy-wide effect on the national economy.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology used is a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model of the Indonesian economy. The unique feature of this model, which is very relevant in this study, is the disaggregation of households by expenditure classes; this allows for precise estimation of the distributional impact and poverty incidence.

Findings

The results suggest that, despite a large reduction in poverty, particularly in rural areas, such transfers reduce the Indonesian GDP, especially if domestically financed through increasing the value added tax of all commodities. However, the GDP reduction can be reduced by approximately half when cash transfers are financed by reducing the distortionary fuel subsidy. Moreover, cash transfers financed by reducing the fuel subsidy also reduce inequality by much more than otherwise. Various extents of the distribution of the transfers are compared, from giving them to the poorest 10 percent to distributing them equally to all households. The benefit of the transfers, in terms of reduced poverty and inequality, is found to be smaller when the author extends the beneficiaries toward the non-poor, although the economy-wide cost, in terms of the reduced GDP, is smaller.

Research limitations/implications

The CGE model used in this model is a comparative-static model that does not explicitly model the time dimension, i.e. how the impact of the transfers evolves over time. This is important if we want to know the timing of the transfers and how and when they are translated into impacts.

Practical implications

To reduce the contractionary effect of cash transfers program, government/policy makers should carefully look for appropriate financing such as from removing subsidy with pre-existing distortions like fuel subsidies.

Social implications

Government needs to carefully design cash transfers to minimize the negative indirect (economy-wide) implication for the national economy and to make sure that the transfers reach the targeted beneficiaries.

Originality/value

Few previous studies have acknowledged the indirect economy-wide effect in analyzing the impact of cash transfers. To the author’s knowledge, this has never been done before for Indonesia. Unlike previous studies, this paper is unique as it contains sensitivity analysis on how transfers can be mistargeted and reach the non-poor and looks at the implications not only for poverty and inequality but also for the rest of the economy.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 45 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 June 2020

Juan Ponce and Carolina Curvale

This paper evaluates the argument that conditional cash transfer program recipients vote for the incumbent. We also test the hypothesis stating that ceasing to receive the benefit…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper evaluates the argument that conditional cash transfer program recipients vote for the incumbent. We also test the hypothesis stating that ceasing to receive the benefit hinders support for the incumbent.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a regression discontinuity design, we assess the impact of the Bono de Desarrollo Humano cash transfer program on pro-incumbent voting of each of these four groups.

Findings

We did not find a significant impact of the transfer on pro-incumbent vote intention in any of the pairwise comparisons, which suggests that contextual factors determining retrospective voting may play an important role in shaping the relationship between pro-incumbent voting and social policy transfers.

Originality/value

Drawing on quasi-experimental evidence from Ecuador, where the eligibility criteria of the program changed exogenously, we evaluate the impacts of several treatments on pro-incumbent voting. We are able to identify four distinct groups: recipients under both eligibility criteria, nonrecipients under both criteria, new recipients and new nonrecipients.

Details

International Journal of Development Issues, vol. 19 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1446-8956

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 1000