The Unintended Consequences of Conditional Cash Transfers on Learning in Morocco[Les conséquences inattendues des transferts monétaires conditionnels sur l'apprentissage au Maroc]

Empirical studies of conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs have repeatedly found positive impacts on enrollment but mixed effects on learning. This evidence is puzzling as positive impacts on enrollment point to the potential for clear learning gains, and CCT programs have generally been motivated by the ultimate objective of enhancing human capital and breaking the inter-generational transmission of poverty. Existing explanations for the lack of clear learning gains relate to the short-term nature of most evaluations, which may not provide enough time for the effects to materialize. In a recent paper (Gazeaud and Ricard, 2024), we propose and evaluate an alternative explanation for the apparent puzzle of why we see large impacts of CCT programs on enrollment but not on learning. Motivated by reports that ‘‘schooling is not learning'', we focus on supply-side factors and suggest that when no accompanying measures are taken to manage the gains in enrollment, the introduction of a CCT program can deteriorate school quality and thus constrain learning for children who enroll in school regardless of the existence of the program.