Cash or Condition? Evidence from a Cash Transfer Experiment

This brief summarizes the results of a gender impact evaluation study, entitled Cash or condition evidence from a cash transfer experiment, conducted from 2008 to the end of 2009 in Malawi. The study observed the impact of conditionality in cash transfer programs with two distinct interventions: unconditional transfers (UCT arm) and transfers conditional on school attendance (CCT arm) targeted at adolescent girls in Malawi on individual level. Dropout rates declined in both treatment arms, however the UCT arm is 43 percent as large as the CCT arm. The fraction of days attended in the CCT arm is significantly higher than the UCT. Cognitive ability, math and English scores significantly improve for the CCT but not for the UCT. Probability of pregnancy and marriage were much lower in the UCT arm. The delays in marriage and fertility in the UCT arm are found entirely among adolescent girls who dropped out of school after the start of the intervention. Improvements in human capital for the recipients of the CCT are achieved at the cost of worse outcomes for people who drop out of school. Funding for the study derived from the Global Development Network, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Africa Project, World Bank Research Support Budget Grant, World Bank Knowledge for Change Trust Fund, World Development Report 2007 Small Grants Fund, Spanish Impact Evaluation Fund, and Gender Action Plan Trust Fund.

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