The Effect of Gender-Targeted Conditional Cash Transfers on Household Expenditures: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment

38 Pages Posted: 22 Aug 2016

See all articles by Alex Armand

Alex Armand

University of Navarra

Orazio Attanasio

Dept of Economics Yale University; Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS); University College London - Department of Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Pedro Manuel Carneiro

University College London - Department of Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Valérie Lechene

University College London

Abstract

This paper studies the differential effect of targeting cash transfers to men or women on the structure of household expenditures on non-durables. We study a policy intervention in the Republic of Macedonia, offering cash transfers to poor households, conditional on having their children attending secondary school. The recipient of the transfer is randomized across municipalities to be either the household head or the mother. Using data collected to evaluate the conditional cash transfer program, we show that the gender of the recipient has an effect on the structure of expenditure shares. Targeting transfers to women increases the expenditure share on food by about 4 to 5%. To study the allocation of expenditures within the food basket, we estimate a demand system for food and we find that targeting payments to mothers induces, for different food categories, not only a significant intercept shift, but also a change in the slope of the Engel curve.

Keywords: CCT, intra-household, gender, expenditure

JEL Classification: D12, D13, E21, O12

Suggested Citation

Armand, Alex and Attanasio, Orazio and Carneiro, Pedro Manuel and Lechene, Valérie, The Effect of Gender-Targeted Conditional Cash Transfers on Household Expenditures: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment. IZA Discussion Paper No. 10133, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2826927 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2826927

Alex Armand (Contact Author)

University of Navarra ( email )

Camino del Cerro del Aguila, 3
Pamplona, Navarra 31080
Spain

HOME PAGE: http://alexarmand.org

Orazio Attanasio

Dept of Economics Yale University ( email )

28 Hillhouse Ave
New Haven, CT 06520-8268
United States

Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)

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University College London - Department of Economics ( email )

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Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

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United Kingdom

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
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United States

Pedro Manuel Carneiro

University College London - Department of Economics ( email )

Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT, WC1E 6BT
United Kingdom

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Valérie Lechene

University College London ( email )

Gower Street
London, WC1E 6BT
United Kingdom

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