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Heterogeneous impacts of an unconditioal cash transfer programme on schooling

evidence from the Ghana LEAP programme
Heterogeneous impacts of an unconditioal cash transfer programme on schooling: evidence from the Ghana LEAP programme

Author(s)

Richard de Groot; Sudhanshu Handa; Mike Park; Robert D. Osei; Isaac Osei-Akoto; Luigi Peter Ragno; Garima Bhalla

 

Publication date: 2015-10

Publication series:
Innocenti Working Papers

No. of pages: 33

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(PDF, 3.37 MB)

Abstract

The paper uses data from a quasi-experimental evaluation to estimate the impact of the Ghanaian Government’s unconditional cash transfer programme on schooling outcomes. It analyses the impacts for children by various subgroups – age, gender, cognitive ability – and finds consistent impacts. There are differences across gender, especially on secondary schooling, with enrolment significantly higher for boys 13 years or older. For girls, the effect of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme is to improve current attendance among those who are already enrolled in school (across all age groups). The authors found a significant effect on the expenditure on schooling items such as uniforms and stationary for these groups, which helps to explain the pathway of impact because these out-of-pocket costs are typically important barriers to schooling in rural Ghana and most of Africa.
Available in:
English

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