Cash Transfers and Health : Evidence from Tanzania
How do conditional cash transfers impact health-related outcomes? This paper examines the 2010 randomized introduction of a program in Tanzania and finds nuanced impacts. An initial surge in clinic visits after 1.5 years -- due to more visits by th...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/535371478531675550/Cash-transfers-and-health-evidence-from-Tanzania http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25682 |
| Summary: | How do conditional cash transfers impact
health-related outcomes? This paper examines the 2010
randomized introduction of a program in Tanzania and finds
nuanced impacts. An initial surge in clinic visits after 1.5
years -- due to more visits by those already complying with
program health conditions and by non-compliers --
disappeared after 2.5 years, largely due to compliers
reducing above-minimal visits. The study finds significant
increases in take-up of health insurance and the likelihood
of seeking treatment when ill. Health improvements were
concentrated among children ages 0–5 years rather than the
elderly, and took time to materialize; the study finds no
improvements after 1.5 years, but 0.76 fewer sick days per
month after 2.5 years, suggesting the importance of looking
beyond short-term impacts. Reductions in sick days were
largest in villages with more baseline health workers per
capita, consistent with improvements being sensitive to
capacity constraints. These results are robust to
adjustments for multiple hypothesis testing. |
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