Cash Transfers and Child Schooling: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation of the Role of Conditionality

We conduct a randomized experiment in Burkina Faso to estimate the impact of alternative cash transfer delivery mechanisms on education. The two-year pilot program randomly distributed cash transfers that were either conditional (on enrollment and attendance) or unconditional. Results indicate that conditional and unconditional transfers have similar impacts increasing enrollment for children traditionally favored by parents for school participation, including boys, older children, and higher ability children. However, conditional transfers are significantly more effective than unconditional transfers in improving the enrollment of “marginal children”, those less likely to go to school, such as girls, younger children, and lower ability children.