Do We Know What Works?: A Systematic Review of Impact Evaluations of Social Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean

This working paper analyzes the topics that usually arise from systematic reviews of poverty reduction programs programs and initiates a discussion about them. All evaluations included in the review have a control group and use the rigorous statistical methodologies (randomization or experimental design, propensity score matching, and instrumental variables) to estimate the impact of the interventions. Using this criteria 51 studies from 47 social programs were included. This working paper was distributed in the "Seminar What Next for Social Policy: Building on the Experience of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs", from the 2006 IDB Annual Meeting held in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil on April 1, 2006.