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 attainment. We show that PROGRESA's impact schooling was smaller in areas with more export-oriented manufacturing jobs and argue is because these generate convex opportunity costs schooling. Consistent...

Conditional cash transfers (CCTs) are a popular type of social welfare program that make payments to households conditional on human capital investments in children. From targeting perspective, compared unconditional (UCTs), CCTs costly because they exclude some low-income as access is tied normal However, we argue conditionalities children’s school enrollment offer an unexplored benefit over U...