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The Impact of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs on Educational Outcomes in Developing Countries. A Case Study: Bolsa Família in Brazil

Buchstab, Alisa LU (2021) EKHS22 20211
Department of Economic History
Abstract
Bolsa Família is one of the largest conditional cash transfer programs in the
world. It provides cash transfers to poor households, conditional on human capital
requirements such as minimum school attendance. The literature emphasizes that more
schooling increases the human capital formation of children, which leads to improved
employment outcomes and will break the inter-generational transmission of poverty.
Despite the importance of schooling for poverty reduction, there is little evidence on
Bolsa Família’s impact on children’s education. This thesis estimated the impact of
Bolsa Família on school enrollment and literacy rates by using data from the Brazilian
household survey PNAD 2014. A Regression Discontinuity Design was... (More)
Bolsa Família is one of the largest conditional cash transfer programs in the
world. It provides cash transfers to poor households, conditional on human capital
requirements such as minimum school attendance. The literature emphasizes that more
schooling increases the human capital formation of children, which leads to improved
employment outcomes and will break the inter-generational transmission of poverty.
Despite the importance of schooling for poverty reduction, there is little evidence on
Bolsa Família’s impact on children’s education. This thesis estimated the impact of
Bolsa Família on school enrollment and literacy rates by using data from the Brazilian
household survey PNAD 2014. A Regression Discontinuity Design was applied, and
impacts were estimated by using logistic regressions. The results using the baseline
sample suggest that Bolsa Família did not have any statistically significant effect on
school enrollment for children between six and 17 years of age in 2014. However,
when the initial assumptions were relaxed it was revealed that Bolsa Família’s effects
on education were stronger among the poorest. This was attributed to higher school
enrollment rates within this group. In addition, a heterogeneous treatment effect was
found: the impact of Bolsa Família on school enrollment was larger among boys than
girls, as well as, among younger children. Furthermore, the models suggest a lower
chance of being literate for Bolsa Família beneficiaries. However, those results were
not statistically significant and therefore no clear effect could be identified. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Buchstab, Alisa LU
supervisor
organization
course
EKHS22 20211
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Conditional Cash Transfer Program, Education, Bolsa Família, Brazil
language
English
id
9056526
date added to LUP
2021-06-24 13:19:16
date last changed
2021-06-24 13:19:16
@misc{9056526,
  abstract     = {{Bolsa Família is one of the largest conditional cash transfer programs in the
world. It provides cash transfers to poor households, conditional on human capital
requirements such as minimum school attendance. The literature emphasizes that more
schooling increases the human capital formation of children, which leads to improved
employment outcomes and will break the inter-generational transmission of poverty.
Despite the importance of schooling for poverty reduction, there is little evidence on
Bolsa Família’s impact on children’s education. This thesis estimated the impact of
Bolsa Família on school enrollment and literacy rates by using data from the Brazilian
household survey PNAD 2014. A Regression Discontinuity Design was applied, and
impacts were estimated by using logistic regressions. The results using the baseline
sample suggest that Bolsa Família did not have any statistically significant effect on
school enrollment for children between six and 17 years of age in 2014. However,
when the initial assumptions were relaxed it was revealed that Bolsa Família’s effects
on education were stronger among the poorest. This was attributed to higher school
enrollment rates within this group. In addition, a heterogeneous treatment effect was
found: the impact of Bolsa Família on school enrollment was larger among boys than
girls, as well as, among younger children. Furthermore, the models suggest a lower
chance of being literate for Bolsa Família beneficiaries. However, those results were
not statistically significant and therefore no clear effect could be identified.}},
  author       = {{Buchstab, Alisa}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The Impact of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs on Educational Outcomes in Developing Countries. A Case Study: Bolsa Família in Brazil}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}