The Leaky Bucket: Transition Costs from Cash to Deposits in a Mexican Transfer Program

B-Tier
Journal: Economic Development & Cultural Change
Year: 2024
Volume: 73
Issue: 1
Pages: 37 - 59

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We study the effects of an experimental transition to account deposits from cash on rural women’s receipt of payments and their monetary and time costs of obtaining benefits. The context for our experiment is the Prospera program from Mexico, the pioneering conditional cash transfer program. We find that beneficiaries transitioned to receive deposits incur higher costs of collecting transfers (both time and money) and report feeling significantly less safe when collecting transfers. Furthermore, they are significantly less likely to report receiving their complete transfer, potentially due to bank commissions.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:ucp:ecdecc:doi:10.1086/726538
Journal Field
Development
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25