IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/hlthec/v25y2016i2p225-236.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Income Transfers and Maternal Health: Evidence from a National Randomized Social Cash Transfer Program in Zambia

Author

Listed:
  • Sudhanshu Handa
  • Amber Peterman
  • David Seidenfeld
  • Gelson Tembo

Abstract

There is promising recent evidence that poverty‐targeted social cash transfers have potential to improve maternal health outcomes; however, questions remain surrounding design features responsible for impacts. In addition, virtually no evidence exists from the African region. This study explores the impact of Zambia's Child Grant Program on a range of maternal health utilization outcomes using a randomized design and difference‐in‐differences multivariate regression from data collected over 24 months from 2010 to 2012. Results indicate that while there are no measurable program impacts among the main sample, there are heterogeneous impacts on skilled attendance at birth among a sample of women residing in households having better access to maternal health services. The latter result is particularly interesting because of the overall low level of health care availability in program areas suggesting that dedicated program design or matching supply‐side interventions may be necessary to leverage unconditional cash transfers in similar settings to impact maternal health. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Sudhanshu Handa & Amber Peterman & David Seidenfeld & Gelson Tembo, 2016. "Income Transfers and Maternal Health: Evidence from a National Randomized Social Cash Transfer Program in Zambia," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(2), pages 225-236, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:25:y:2016:i:2:p:225-236
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.3136
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.3136
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/hec.3136?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Verónica Amarante & Marco Manacorda & Edward Miguel & Andrea Vigorito, 2011. "Do Cash Transfers Improve Birth Outcomes? Evidence from Matched Vital Statistics, Social Security and Program Data," CEP Discussion Papers dp1106, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    2. Fernandez, Luisa & Olfindo, Rosechin, 2011. "Overview of the Philippines'conditional cash transfer program : the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (Pantawid Pamilya)," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 69422, The World Bank.
    3. Benjamin Davis & Marie Gaarder & Sudhanshu Handa & Jenn Yablonski, 2012. "Evaluating the impact of cash transfer programmes in sub-Saharan Africa: an introduction to the special issue," Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(1), pages 1-8, March.
    4. Benjamin Davis & Marie Gaarder & Sudhanshu Handa & Jenn Yablonski, 2012. "Evaluating the Impact of Cash Transfer Programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa," One Pager 146, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth.
    5. Verónica Amarante & Marco Manacorda & Edward Miguel & Andrea Vigorito, 2016. "Do Cash Transfers Improve Birth Outcomes? Evidence from Matched Vital Statistics, Program, and Social Security Data," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 8(2), pages 1-43, May.
    6. Jose Urquieta & Gustavo Angeles & Thomas Mroz & Hector Lamadrid-Figueroa & Bernardo Hernández, 2009. "Impact of Oportunidades on Skilled Attendance at Delivery in Rural Areas," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(3), pages 539-558, April.
    7. Fernandez, Luisa & Olfindo, Rosechin, 2011. "Overview of the Philippines'Conditional Cash Transfer Program : the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (Pantawid Pamilya)," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 62879, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ahmad Reshad Osmani, 2021. "Conditional Cash Incentive and Use of Health Care Services: New Evidence from a Household Experiment," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 518-532, September.
    2. Cooper, Jan E. & Benmarhnia, Tarik & Koski, Alissa & King, Nicholas B., 2020. "Cash transfer programs have differential effects on health: A review of the literature from low and middle-income countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    3. Richard Groot & Tia Palermo & Sudhanshu Handa & Luigi Peter Ragno & Amber Peterman, 2017. "Themed Issue: Cash Transfers and Microfinance," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 35(5), pages 621-643, September.
    4. Alan de Brauw & Amber Peterman, 2020. "Can conditional cash transfers improve maternal health care? Evidence from El Salvador's Comunidades Solidarias Rurales program," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(6), pages 700-715, June.
    5. Pal, Soumya, 2021. "Weather Shock, Agricultural Productivity and Infant Health: A Tale of Environmental Injustice," GLO Discussion Paper Series 965, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    6. Okeke, Edward N. & Abubakar, Isa S., 2020. "Healthcare at the beginning of life and child survival: Evidence from a cash transfer experiment in Nigeria," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    7. Vedavati Patwardhan, 2023. "The impact of the Mamata conditional cash transfer program on child nutrition in Odisha, India," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(9), pages 2127-2146, September.
    8. Fink, Günther & Venkataramani, Atheendar S. & Zanolini, Arianna, 2021. "Early life adversity, biological adaptation, and human capital: evidence from an interrupted malaria control program in Zambia," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gilliland, Ted E. & Sanchirico, James N. & Taylor, J. Edward, 2018. "Environmental Impacts of Cash Transfer Programs: Implications for the Welfare of Poor Communities in Developing Countries," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274244, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. Independent Evaluation Group, 2014. "Social Safety Nets and Gender : Learning from Impact Evaluations and World Bank Projects," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 21365, December.
    3. Stoeffler, Quentin & Mills, Bradford, 2014. "Households’ investments in durable and productive assets in Niger: quasi-experimental evidences from a cash transfer project," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170212, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Alzúa, María Laura & Katzkowicz, Noemí, 2021. "Pay for performance for prenatal care and newborn health: Evidence from a developing country," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    5. Chatterjee, Somdeep & Poddar, Prashant, 2019. "Maternal Health, Children Education and Women Empowerment: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from India," GLO Discussion Paper Series 332, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    6. van den Bold, Mara & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Gillespie, Stuart, 2013. "Women’s empowerment and nutrition: An evidence review:," IFPRI discussion papers 1294, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Solomon Asfaw & Silvio Daidone & Benjamin Davis & Josh Dewbre & Alessandro Romeo & Paul Winters & Katia Covarrubias & Habiba Djebbari, 2012. "Analytical Framework for Evaluating the Productive Impact of Cash Transfer Programmes on Household Behaviour – Methodological Guidelines for the From Protection to Production Project," Working Papers 101, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth.
    8. Crost, Benjamin & Felter, Joseph H. & Johnston, Patrick B., 2016. "Conditional cash transfers, civil conflict and insurgent influence: Experimental evidence from the Philippines," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 171-182.
    9. Fernandez, Luisa, 2012. "Design and implementation features of the national household targeting system in the Philippines," Social Protection and Labor Policy and Technical Notes 70149, The World Bank.
    10. Abdulmenaf Sejdini & Ilirjana Kraja, 2014. "International Trade of Albania. Gravity Model," European Journal of Social Sciences Education and Research Articles, Revistia Research and Publishing, vol. 1, September.
    11. Benjamin M Hunter & Sean Harrison & Anayda Portela & Debra Bick, 2017. "The effects of cash transfers and vouchers on the use and quality of maternity care services: A systematic review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(3), pages 1-37, March.
    12. Mateusz J. Filipski & J. Edward Taylor & Karen E. Thome & Benjamin Davis, 2015. "Effects of treatment beyond the treated: a general equilibrium impact evaluation of Lesotho's cash grants program," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(2), pages 227-243, March.
    13. Maurice Nirere, 2022. "Do social protection cash transfers reduce poverty in Rwanda? Evidence from an econometric analysis of Vision Umurenge Program Direct Support," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 34(1), pages 114-126, March.
    14. Scarlato, Margherita & D'Agostino, Giorgio, 2016. "The political economy of cash transfers: a comparative analysis of Latin American and sub-Saharan African experiences," IDOS Discussion Papers 6/2016, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    15. Ma Cecilia Catubig & Renato Villano & Brian Dollery, 2015. "Payment Schemes in Conditional Cash Transfer Programs: The Case of 4Ps in the Davao Region, Philippines," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-20, November.
    16. Verlarde, Rashiel & Fernandez, Luisa, 2011. "Philippines - Welfare and distributional impacts of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 69423, The World Bank.
    17. Noemi Pace & Silvio Daidone & Benjamin Davis & Luca Pellerano, 2016. "Does "soft conditionality" increase the impact of cash transfers on desired outcomes? Evidence from a randomized control trial in Lesotho," Working Papers 2016:33, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    18. Owusu-Addo, Ebenezer & Renzaho, Andre M.N. & Smith, Ben J., 2018. "Evaluation of cash transfer programs in sub-Saharan Africa: A methodological review," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 47-56.
    19. Bhagowalia, Priya, 2020. "Impact of Conditional Cash Transfers on Health and Nutrition," MPRA Paper 97972, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Tabuga, Aubrey D. & Mina, Christian D. & Reyes, Celia M. & Asis, Ronina D., 2013. "Promoting Inclusive Growth through the 4Ps," Discussion Papers DP 2013-09, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:25:y:2016:i:2:p:225-236. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/5749 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.