18 governments from Latin America and the Caribbean give out regular monthly cash transfers to almost 130 million poor. These transfers which are known as Conditional Cash Transfers or CCTs and which vary greatly in terms of objectives and coverage, try to alleviate poverty in the short term and develop human capital in the long run. These programs typically focus on children’s … [Read more...] about 8 lessons from giving cash to the poor
CCT
Cash transfers, 103 years ago
Cash Transfers are probably one of the most researched interventions in the world. The great majority of this research has focused on short to medium term impacts. This is not surprising as the first modern Cash Transfer Program, Progresa (now called Oportunidades), is a 16 years old adolescent. In addition, the evidence on “longer” term effects is still considered weak. A … [Read more...] about Cash transfers, 103 years ago
CCTs: not the silver bullet, but with long lasting positive effects
Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) were a major social policy innovation in the mid/late 1990s. Instead of providing generalized subsidies, using price controls, and/or directly distributing food as means to help the poor (instruments that are inefficient, distort markets and in general are regressive), governments began to transfer cash directly to the poorest families, … [Read more...] about CCTs: not the silver bullet, but with long lasting positive effects
Is large scale impact an oxymoron?
As the debate on the impact of the Millenium Villages Project (MVP) evolved, it became increasingly clear that, at least for now, there is no evidence on its effectiveness. It is also clear that part of the challenge has been that rigorous evaluation designs were absent at inception, and later efforts did not provide much evidence with their quicksand baselines or muddy … [Read more...] about Is large scale impact an oxymoron?