Health spillover effects of a conditional cash transfer program

• DOI: 10.1007/s00148-020-00809-y
• Publication Date: 2020-11-27T07:08:33Z
• Authors: Diana Contreras S...; Pushkar Maitra
• Keywords: jel:I15; 330; Conditional Cash Transfer, Health Spillovers, Colombia, Familias en Accion; 4. Education; jel:I38; 0502 economics and business; 05 social sciences; 1. No poverty; jel:C33; jel:O1; 3. Good health

We use data from the Familias en Accion program in Colombia to examine the spillover or indirect effects of a conditional cash transfer program. Our results show that the program has significant spillover effects: it leads to an improvement in the health of non-targeted individuals in treatment households in terms of both incidence and severity of illness. The benefits are stronger for women and the elderly in the short run and for men in the medium run. Our analysis suggests that these spillovers are driven by increased access to information in the household that creates a public good.