The Impact of Cash Transfers on School Enrollment : Evidence from Ecuador

Oosterbeek, Hessel ; Ponce, Juan ; Schady, Norbert

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN;    BIASES;    CASH TRANSFER PROGRAMS;    CASH TRANSFERS;    CHILD DEVELOPMENT;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-4645
RP-ID  :  WPS4645

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper presents evidence about theimpact on school enrollment of a program in Ecuador thatgives cash transfers to the 40 percent poorest families. Theevaluation design consists of a randomized experiment forfamilies around the first quintile of the poverty index andof a regression discontinuity design for families around thesecond quintile of this index, which is the program'seligibility threshold. This allows us to compare resultsfrom two different credible identification methods, and toinvestigate whether the impact varies with families'poverty level. Around the first quintile of the povertyindex the impact is positive while it is equal to zeroaround the second quintile. This suggests that for thepoorest families the program lifts a credit constraint whilethis is not the case for families close to the eligibility threshold.