IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cgd/wpaper/563.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Educational Impacts of Cash Transfers in Tanzania

Author

Listed:
  • David K. Evans

    (Center for Global Development)

  • Charles Gale

    (Harvard Graduate School of Education)

  • Katrina Kosec

    (International Food Policy Research Institute)

Abstract

Cash transfers boost educational outcomes for poor children on average, but which aspects of educational performance are most responsive and which poor children benefit the most? This study examines the educational impacts of cash transfers, drawing on a randomized, community implemented conditional cash transfer program targeted to poor households in Tanzania. On average, being assigned to receive transfers significantly improves children’s likelihood of having ever attended school (by between 4 and 5 percentage points), with suggestive evidence that this is driven by more age-appropriate enrollment for the youngest children. However, school attendance and primary school completion remain unaffected on average. Girls and boys benefit similarly, and only students with stronger initial educational performance experience increases in primary completion rates.

Suggested Citation

  • David K. Evans & Charles Gale & Katrina Kosec, 2020. "The Educational Impacts of Cash Transfers in Tanzania," Working Papers 563, Center for Global Development, revised 01 Jul 2022.
    • Handle: RePEc:cgd:wpaper:563
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cgdev.org/publication/educational-impacts-cash-transfers-tanzania?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Molina Millán, Teresa & Macours, Karen & Maluccio, John A. & Tejerina, Luis, 2020. "Experimental long-term effects of early-childhood and school-age exposure to a conditional cash transfer program," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    2. Anderson, Michael L, 2008. "Multiple Inference and Gender Differences in the Effects of Early Intervention: A Reevaluation of the Abecedarian, Perry Preschool, and Early Training Projects," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt15n8j26f, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    3. Dennis Egger & Johannes Haushofer & Edward Miguel & Paul Niehaus & Michael Walker, 2022. "General Equilibrium Effects of Cash Transfers: Experimental Evidence From Kenya," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(6), pages 2603-2643, November.
    4. Teresa Molina Millán & Tania Barham & Karen Macours & John A Maluccio & Marco Stampini, 2019. "Long-Term Impacts of Conditional Cash Transfers: Review of the Evidence," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 34(1), pages 119-159.
    5. Felipe Barrera-Osorio & Leigh L. Linden & Juan E. Saavedra, 2019. "Medium- and Long-Term Educational Consequences of Alternative Conditional Cash Transfer Designs: Experimental Evidence from Colombia," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 54-91, July.
    6. Stefan Wager & Susan Athey, 2018. "Estimation and Inference of Heterogeneous Treatment Effects using Random Forests," Journal of the American Statistical Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 113(523), pages 1228-1242, July.
    7. Deon Filmer & Norbert Schady, 2008. "Getting Girls into School: Evidence from a Scholarship Program in Cambodia," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(3), pages 581-617, April.
    8. Evans David K. & Akmal Maryam & Jakiela Pamela, 2021. "Gender gaps in education: The long view," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 12(1), pages 1-27, January.
    9. Abhijit Banerjee & Rukmini Banerji & James Berry & Esther Duflo & Harini Kannan & Shobhini Mukerji & Marc Shotland & Michael Walton, 2017. "From Proof of Concept to Scalable Policies: Challenges and Solutions, with an Application," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(4), pages 73-102, Fall.
    10. Becker, Gary S & Tomes, Nigel, 1976. "Child Endowments and the Quantity and Quality of Children," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 84(4), pages 143-162, August.
    11. Damian Clarke & Joseph P. Romano & Michael Wolf, 2020. "The Romano–Wolf multiple-hypothesis correction in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 20(4), pages 812-843, December.
    12. George Psacharopoulos & Harry Anthony Patrinos, 2018. "Returns to investment in education: a decennial review of the global literature," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(5), pages 445-458, September.
    13. Masterson, Thomas, 2012. "An Empirical Analysis of Gender Bias in Education Spending in Paraguay," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 583-593.
    14. Buhl-Wiggers, Julie & Jones, Sam & Thornton, Rebecca, 2021. "Boys lagging behind: Unpacking gender differences in academic achievement across East Africa," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    15. Kolawole Ogundari & Awudu Abdulai, 2014. "Determinants of Household's Education and Healthcare Spending in Nigeria: Evidence from Survey Data," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 26(1), pages 1-14.
    16. Santiago Acerenza & Néstor Gandelman, 2019. "Household Education Spending in Latin America and the Caribbean: Evidence from Income and Expenditure Surveys," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 14(1), pages 61-87, Winter.
    17. Di Mo & Linxiu Zhang & Hongmei Yi & Renfu Luo & Scott Rozelle & Carl Brinton, 2013. "School Dropouts and Conditional Cash Transfers: Evidence from a Randomised Controlled Trial in Rural China's Junior High Schools," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(2), pages 190-207, February.
    18. Baird, Sarah & McIntosh, Craig & Özler, Berk, 2013. "The regressive demands of demand-driven development," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 27-41.
    19. Monazza Aslam & Geeta Gandhi Kingdon, 2008. "Gender and household education expenditure in Pakistan," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(20), pages 2573-2591.
    20. David K Evans & Brian Holtemeyer & Katrina Kosec, 2019. "Cash Transfers and Health: Evidence from Tanzania," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 33(2), pages 394-412.
    21. Eliana Cardoso & André Portela F. Souza, 2009. "The Impact of Cash Transfers on Child Labor and School Enrollment in Brazil," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Peter F. Orazem & Guilherme Sedlacek & Zafiris Tzannatos (ed.), Child Labor and Education in Latin America, chapter 8, pages 133-146, Palgrave Macmillan.
    22. Evans, David K. & Holtemeyer, Brian & Kosec, Katrina, 2019. "Cash transfers increase trust in local government," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 138-155.
    23. Sarah Baird & Francisco H.G. Ferreira & Berk Özler & Michael Woolcock, 2014. "Conditional, unconditional and everything in between: a systematic review of the effects of cash transfer programmes on schooling outcomes," Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 1-43, January.
    24. Stephanie Psaki & Nicole Haberland & Barbara Mensch & Lauren Woyczynski & Erica Chuang, 2022. "Policies and interventions to remove gender‐related barriers to girls' school participation and learning in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review of the evidence," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(1), March.
    25. Felipe Barrera-Osorio & Marianne Bertrand & Leigh L. Linden & Francisco Perez-Calle, 2011. "Improving the Design of Conditional Transfer Programs: Evidence from a Randomized Education Experiment in Colombia," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(2), pages 167-195, April.
    26. Silvia Pasqua, 2005. "Gender Bias in Parental Investments in Children’s Education: A Theoretical Analysis," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 291-314, September.
    27. Hallfors, D. & Cho, H. & Rusakaniko, S. & Iritani, B. & Mapfumo, J. & Halpern, C., 2011. "Supporting adolescent orphan girls to stay in school as HIV risk prevention: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in Zimbabwe," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 101(6), pages 1082-1088.
    28. Alderman, Harold & King, Elizabeth M., 1998. "Gender differences in parental investment in education," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 453-468, December.
    29. Anderson, Michael L., 2008. "Multiple Inference and Gender Differences in the Effects of Early Intervention: A Reevaluation of the Abecedarian, Perry Preschool, and Early Training Projects," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 103(484), pages 1481-1495.
    30. Sasiwooth Wongmonta & Paul Glewwe, 2017. "An analysis of gender differences in household education expenditure: the case of Thailand," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(2), pages 183-204, March.
    31. Rebecca Dizon-Ross, 2019. "Parents' Beliefs about Their Children's Academic Ability: Implications for Educational Investments," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(8), pages 2728-2765, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Bobba, Matteo & Frisancho, Veronica & Pariguana, Marco, 2016. "Perceived Ability and School Choices: Experimental Evidence and Scale-up Effects," TSE Working Papers 16-660, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised May 2023.
    2. Jules Gazeaud & Claire Ricard, 2021. "Conditional cash transfers and the learning crisis: evidence from Tayssir scale-up in Morocco," NOVAFRICA Working Paper Series wp2102, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics, NOVAFRICA.
    3. Emily Beam & Priya Mukherjee & Laia Navarro-Sola, 2022. "Lowering Barriers to Remote Education: Experimental Impacts on Parental Responses and Learning," Working Papers 2022-030, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    4. Agostinelli, Francesco & Avitabile, Ciro & Bobba, Matteo, 2021. "Enhancing Human Capital in Children: A Case Study on Scaling," TSE Working Papers 21-1196, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Oct 2023.
    5. Stefano Caria & Grant Gordon & Maximilian Kasy & Simon Quinn & Soha Shami & Alexander Teytelboym, 2020. "An Adaptive Targeted Field Experiment: Job Search Assistance for Refugees in Jordan," CESifo Working Paper Series 8535, CESifo.
    6. Burgess, Simon & Metcalfe, Robert & Sadoff, Sally, 2021. "Understanding the response to financial and non-financial incentives in education: Field experimental evidence using high-stakes assessments," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    7. Islam, Asad & Lee, Wang-Sheng & Nicholas, Aaron, 2021. "The Effects of Chess Instruction on Academic and Non-cognitive Outcomes: Field Experimental Evidence from a Developing Country," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    8. Kenayathulla, Husaina Banu, 2016. "Gender differences in intra-household educational expenditures in Malaysia," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 59-73.
    9. Zhou, Lei & Jiang, Bo & Wang, Jingxi, 2020. "Do cash transfers have impacts on student Academic, cognitive, and enrollment outcomes? Evidence from rural China," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    10. Ham, Andrés & Michelson, Hope C., 2018. "Does the form of delivering incentives in conditional cash transfers matter over a decade later?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 96-108.
    11. Baird, Sarah & McIntosh, Craig & Özler, Berk, 2019. "When the money runs out: Do cash transfers have sustained effects on human capital accumulation?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 169-185.
    12. Sebastian Gallegos & Pablo Celhay, 2020. "Early Skill Effects on Types of Parental Investments and Long-Run Outcomes," Working Papers 2020-014, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    13. Sandra García & Juan Saavedra, 2017. "Educational Impacts and Cost-Effectiveness of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs in Developing Countries: A Meta-Analysis," NBER Working Papers 23594, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Michele Giannola, 2022. "Parental investments and intra-household inequality in child human capital: evidence from a survey experiment," IFS Working Papers W22/54, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    15. Cygan-Rehm, Kamila & Karbownik, Krzysztof, 2022. "The effects of incentivizing early prenatal care on infant health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    16. Fitzsimons, Emla & Malde, Bansi & Mesnard, Alice & Vera-Hernández, Marcos, 2016. "Nutrition, information and household behavior: Experimental evidence from Malawi," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 113-126.
    17. M. Caridad Araujo & Mariano Bosch & Norbert Schady, 2017. "Can Cash Transfers Help Households Escape an Intergenerational Poverty Trap?," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of Poverty Traps, pages 357-382, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Michael Baker & Kevin Milligan, 2016. "Boy-Girl Differences in Parental Time Investments: Evidence from Three Countries," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 10(4), pages 399-441.
    19. Felipe Barrera-Osorio & Leigh L. Linden & Juan E. Saavedra, 2019. "Medium- and Long-Term Educational Consequences of Alternative Conditional Cash Transfer Designs: Experimental Evidence from Colombia," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 54-91, July.
    20. Sonia Bhalotra & Martin Karlsson & Therese Nilsson & Nina Schwarz, 2022. "Infant Health, Cognitive Performance, and Earnings: Evidence from Inception of the Welfare State in Sweden," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(6), pages 1138-1156, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    cash transfers; education; Tanzania; poverty;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

    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:cgd:wpaper:563. 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: Publications Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cgdevus.html .

    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.