Conditional Cash Transfers in Latin America. I have taken advantage of the natural experiments of the expansion of conditional cash transfer programs in Latin America to evaluate the impact of poverty reduction programs on child and youth development. Using longitudinal administrative data and household surveys, I have applied propensity score matching and differences-in-differences approaches to evaluate how conditional cash transfers have improved child nutrition, reduced child mortality, improved adolescent enrollment rates, and reduced adolescent fertility. Within these analyses, I have explored mechanisms by which the conditional cash transfers are effective. For example, for the schooling outcome, I find the conditional cash transfer was able to prevent drop-outs but not convinced drop-outs to re-enroll. Similarly, we find quality of health care clinics to be an important factor in mediating the impact of the conditional cash transfer on child mortality.
Selected Papers
a. Olson, Z, Gardner, R, & Reynolds, S. (2019) Can a conditional cash transfer reduce teen fertility? The case of Brazil’s Bolsa Familia. Journal of Health Economics, 63, 128-144. PMC6382519
b. Reynolds, S. (2015). Brazil's Bolsa Familia: Does it work for adolescents and do they work less for it? Economics of Education Review, 46, 23-38.
c. Andersen, C.T., Reynolds, S, Behrman, J.R., Crookston, B.T., Dearden, K.A., Escobal, J., Mani, S., Sanchez, A., Stein, A. & Fernald, L.C. (2015). Participation in the Juntos conditional cash transfer program in Peru is associated with changes in child anthropometric status but not language development or school achievement. The Journal of Nutrition, 145(10), 2396-2405. PMC4580957
d. Vieira-Meyer, A.P.G.F., de Araújo Dias, M.S., Vasconcelos, M.I.O., Rouberte, E.S.C., de Almeida, A.M.B., de Albuquerque Pinheiro, T.X., de Lima Saintrain, M.V., Machado, M.D.F.A.S., Dufault, S., Reynolds, S & Fernald, L. (2019) What is the relative impact of primary health care quality and conditional cash transfer program in child mortality? Canadian Journal of Public Health. 110(6), 756-767. PMC6964587