Do local labor markets influence the effectiveness of educational policies? To answer this question, we focus on Mexico's conditional cash transfer program, PROGRESA, documented to have increased educational attainment. We show that PROGRESA's impact on schooling was smaller in areas with more export-oriented manufacturing jobs and argue this is because these jobs generate more convex opportunity costs of schooling. Consistent with this, the heterogeneity we document is strongest among those old enough to be working in factory jobs.
Mexico’s Prospera-Oportunidades-Progresa Conditional Cash Transfer Program (CCT-POP) included the distribution of fortified food supplements (FFS) for pregnant and lactating women and young children. Rigorous evaluations showed significant impacts on nutrition outcomes but also substantial gaps in addressing nutrition problems.Three key design and implementation challenges were identified. FFS, although well accepted for children, had limited potential to substantially modify the quality of children’s diets because of the pattern of use in the home.
The Progresa Conditional Cash Transfer program in Mexico began in 1997, with a strong evidence-based design. The program’s ultimate objective was to foster the development of human capital through 3 components—education, health, and food. Rigorous impact evaluation generated evidence of impact on several outcomes, including child growth, but also aspects of program design and implementation challenges that may have limited impact.
Development programs and policy interventions frequently have multiple simultaneous objectives. Existing quantitative evaluation approaches fail to fully accommodate this multiplicity of objectives. In this paper we adapt the multidimensional poverty measurement approach developed by Alkire and Foster (2011) to the estimation of treatment effects for programs with multiple objectives.