Turning a Shove into a Nudge? A "Labeled Cash Transfer" for Education

A-Tier
Journal: American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
Year: 2015
Volume: 7
Issue: 3
Pages: 86-125

Authors (5)

Najy Benhassine (not in RePEc) Florencia Devoto (not in RePEc) Esther Duflo (not in RePEc) Pascaline Dupas (not in RePEc) Victor Pouliquen (University of Essex)

Score contribution per author:

0.804 = (α=2.01 / 5 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

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

Abstract

Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) have been shown to increase human capital investments, but their standard features make them expensive. We use a large randomized experiment in Morocco to estimate an alternative government-run program, a "labeled cash transfer" (LCT): a small cash transfer made to fathers of school-aged children in poor rural communities, not conditional on school attendance but explicitly labeled as an education support program. We document large gains in school participation. Adding conditionality and targeting mothers made almost no difference in our context. The program increased parents' belief that education was a worthwhile investment, a likely pathway for the results. (JEL H23, I24, 128, I38, J24, O15, O18)

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aejpol:v:7:y:2015:i:3:p:86-125
Journal Field
General
Author Count
5
Added to Database
2026-01-25