Conditional cash transfers are programs under which poor families get a stipend provided they keep their children in school and take them for health checks. Although there is significant evidence showing that they have positive impacts on school participation, little is known about the long-term...

This paper estimates the effect of enrollment in a large scale anti-poverty program in Colombia, Familias en Acción, on intent to vote, turnout and electoral choice. For identification the analysis uses discontinuities in program eligibility and variation in program enrollment across voting...

This paper argues that climate change poses two distinct, if related, sets of challenges for poor rural households: challenges related to the increasing frequency and severity of weather shocks and challenges related to long-term shifts in temperature, rainfall patterns, water availability, and...

This paper examines whether the Colombian government's expansion of social programs in the early 1990s, particularly the publicly provided health insurance, discouraged formal employment. Using household survey data and variation across municipalities in the onset of interviews for the SISBEN,...

Social programs are often designed under the assumption that individuals make rational decisions that improve their welfare. Yet, informational and behavioral constraints limit the extreme and chronic poor's access and participation in social programs. This paper reviews the implementation and...

Mozambique is among the African countries most exposed to weather-related hazards. Using detailed gridded precipitation data for individuals' birth-year and birth-district, this study investigates the effects of extreme rainfall anomalies around the time of birth on long-run well-being. The...

This paper investigates the causal consequences of Tropical Storm Agatha (2010)-the strongest tropical storm ever to strike Guatemala since rainfall records have been kept-on household welfare. The analysis reveals substantial negative effects, particularly among urban households. Per capita...

Inflation is typically measured using aggregate price indices that are based on bundles of goods and services sold or consumed by the "median" agent. In the case of households, in particular, budget shares vary substantially across income and demographic groups. Assessing how inflation behaves...

The Punjab Female School Stipend Program, a female-targeted conditional cash transfer program in Pakistan, was implemented in response to gender gaps in education. An early evaluation of the program shows that the enrollment of eligible girls in middle school increased in the short term by...