Helping Children Catch Up: Early Life Shocks and the PROGRESA Experiment
研究发现，墨西哥农村的降雨冲击会降低儿童的教育和就业成就，但PROGRESA有条件现金转移项目能显著缓解这种负面影响，每多参与一年可弥补约20%的早期劣势。
Abstract Children who face significant disadvantage early in life are often found to be worse off years or even decades later. Can conditional cash transfer programs mitigate the negative consequences and help these children catch up with their peers? We answer this question using data from rural Mexico, where rainfall shocks can have substantial effects on household income. We find that adverse rainfall in a child's year of birth decreases grade attainment, post-secondary enrolment and employment outcomes. But declines were much smaller for children whose families were randomised to receive the conditional cash transfer program, PROGRESA: each additional year of PROGRESA exposure during childhood mitigated almost 20% of the early disadvantage in grade attainment.