Children's health opportunities and project evaluation: Mexico's oportunidades program

Van de Gaer, Dirk;Vandenbossche, Joost;Figueroa, José Luis
(2014) The World Bank Economic Review — Vol. 28, n° 2, p. 282-310 (2014)

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Authors
  • Van de Gaer, DirkUCLouvain
    Author
  • Vandenbossche, JoostGhent University
    Author
  • Figueroa, José LuisGhent University
    Author
Abstract
We propose a methodology to evaluate social projects from the perspective of children’s opportunities on the basis of the effects of these projects on the distribution of outcomes. We condition our evaluation on characteristics for which individuals are not responsible; in this case, we use parental education level and indigenous background.The methodology is applied to evaluate the effects on children’s health opportunities of Mexico’s Oportunidades program, one of the largest conditional cash transfer programs for poor households in the world. The evidence from this program shows that gains in health opportunities for children from indigenous backgrounds are substantial and are situated in crucial parts of the distribution, whereas gains for children from nonindigenous backgrounds are more limited.
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Citations

Van de Gaer, D., Vandenbossche, J., & Figueroa, J. L. (2014). Children’s health opportunities and project evaluation: Mexico’s oportunidades program. The World Bank Economic Review, 28(2), 282-310. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhs032 (Original work published 2014)