Health Spillover Effects of a Conditional Cash Transfer Program

Diana Contreras Suarez and Pushkar Maitra

No 44-13, Monash Economics Working Papers from Monash University, Department of Economics

Abstract: While the primary aim of most Conditional Cash Transfer (or CCT) programs is to increase the level of human capital of children in poor households, there are also potentially large spillover effects associated with such programs. We illustrate this using data from the Familias en Accion (FA) program that has been in operation in Colombia for almost a decade. The health and nutrition component of the program was targeted at households with at least one child aged between 0 and 5. Receipt of the cash transfer was conditional upon fulfilling specific health care requirements: growth and development check-ups for children, and attendance at sessions on nutrition, hygiene and contraception by the children's primary caregivers. We find significant improvement in the health of non-targeted adults in treatment households, both in terms of incidence of illness (in the short and the medium run) and on the severity of illness (over the medium run). The main mechanism behind this effect appears to be the availability of better information and creation of health public goods within the household as a result of this program.

Keywords: Conditional Cash Transfer; Health Spillovers; Colombia; Familias en Accion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C33 I15 I38 O1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 50 pages
Date: 2013-07
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Journal Article: Health spillover effects of a conditional cash transfer program (2021)
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