This paper examines the PROGRESA and PROCAMPO cash transfer programs in Mexico and evaluates their impact on household food security and nutrition. These two programs differ in their gender targeting, with PROGRESA aimed at women and PROCAMPO generally at men, and program conditionality, with...

In this paper, we examine how the design of cash transfer schemes influences household welfare outcomes with particular reference to the influence of transfers on conditioned outcomes, such as schooling, health and investment. We do this by examining two innovative cash transfer schemes...

Using data from the 2003 Albania Panel Survey, the paper sets out to achieve two main objectives. First, we fully characterize the evolution of Albanian international migration since the fall of Communism in 1990. We distinguish between permanent and temporary migration, and between the two...

Using evidence from two recent data sources – the 2002 Albania Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS) and the 2001 Population Census of Albania – the paper documents the phenomena of internal and external migration in Albania, a country that in the past decade has experienced dramatic...

Prior research on Mexican migration has shown that social networks and economic incentives play an important role in determining migration outcomes. This study utilizes experimental data on PROGRESA, Mexico's primary poverty reduction program, to evaluate the effects of public cash transfers on...

While Nicaragua over the past decade has ranked among the poorest countries in Latin America in terms of per capita GDP, data from the last three LSMS surveys (1993, 1998, and 2001) has shown a consistent, though modest, decline in the incidence of poverty. Nationally, the incidence of poverty...

We examine the relationship between participation in non-agricultural labor activities and farming production decisions, focusing on the use of inputs. In particular, we are interested in the hypothesis that income from non-agricultural labor relaxes credit constraints...

We examine the relationship between participation in non-agricultural labor activities and farming production decisions, focusing on the use of inputs. In particular, we are interested in the hypothesis that income from non-agricultural labor relaxes credit constraints. Using longitudinal data...

Summary This paper evaluates the behavioral impact of conditionality and gender targeting on spending behavior in the Progresa conditional cash transfer (CCT) program from rural Mexico. Results indicate that transfer income is not spent differently from general income, suggesting that transfers...