Enrique Valencia Lomelí

Conditional Cash Transfer Programs: Achievements and Illusions

are not available, especially in the context of low income countries in Africa. Schooling conditionalities are unlikely to work where it is not possible to expand school places, but if the objective of the programme is to increase enrolments and school attendance unconditional income transfers will not work either. The issue here is to combine income transfers with improvements in school infrastructure, independently of whether transfers are conditional or unconditional. The main reason not to include conditionalities in income transfers arises when these impose compliance costs on beneficiaries. To the extent that these costs are non-trivial and are not accounted for in setting the level of the transfer, they are likely to compound the adverse situation of those in poverty. As income transfer programmes seldom collect information on compliance costs, or attempt to account for these in setting benefits, this is a strong concern. To conclude, it is encouraging that a multidimensional understanding of the nature of poverty is exerting a strong influence on new forms of social assistance in developing countries. Among these, conditional income transfer programmes require beneficiaries to invest in schooling, health care, and nutrition. As with other design features of income transfers, conditionalities reflect programme objectives, social preferences, and political factors. As with other design features of income transfers, conditionalities have potential advantages and limitations. A particular concern with conditionalities is the extent to which they impose non-trivial compliance costs on beneficiaries not accounted for in setting benefit levels. Conditionalities can strengthen linkages between income transfers and basic services utilization. They are likely to be effective, if at all, at the margins. A rounded assessment of conditionalities in income transfers is essential to understanding emerging forms of social assistance in developing countries.