Conditional Cash Transfer and School Outcomes: An Evaluation of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program in Davao Oriental, Philippines

• Author: Renato A. Villano,Ma. Cecilia L. Catubig
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/asej.12137
• Published date: 01 December 2017
• Date: 01 December 2017

Conditional Cash Transfer and School

Outcomes: An Evaluation of the Pantawid

Pamilyang Pilipino Program in Davao Oriental,

Philippines

*

Ma. Cecilia L. Catubig and Renato A. Villano

Received 12 September 2014; accepted 12 September 2017

The present study adds to the empirical literature examining the effects of condi-

tional cash transfers on school outcomes. Using school-level and student-level

enrolment data from Davao Oriental Philippines, we evaluate the influence of the

Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (also known as 4Ps), a social development

policy program, on the growth rates in school enrolment outcomes. The findings

show that 4Ps, on average, increased school enrolment of children by 1.12 per-

cent. It was also apparent that using student-level data as opposed to school-level

data revealed a more robust effect of 4Ps on school outcomes. We also found

some school and socioeconomic characteristics influencing the change in school

enrolments. Finally, this study highlights the role of government intervention pro-

grams in improving access to education in the poorest sector of the economy.

Keywords: conditional cash transfer, 4Ps, Philippines, school outcomes.

JEL classification codes: H5, O15.

doi: 10.1111/asej.12137

I. Introduction

Education is a key tool for development and an invaluable means of addressing

structural inequality and disadvantage. Most economic theorists have embraced the

principle that higher levels of education raise incomes and generally the quality of

life, positively influencing economic growth (Nelson and Phelps, 1966; Barro,

1991; Temple, 2001). To achieve the numerous social benefits of completing pri-

mary education, developing countries like the Philippines have committed to provid-

ing universal primary education as one of the Millennium Development Goals

(MDG). To help reach this target by 2015, a number of key policies were adopted.

In the Philippines, a social policy program was launched in 2008 and has

been scaled up rapidly to become the foundation of the government’s social

*Catubig (corresponding author): Institute of Business and Public Affairs, Davao Oriental State

College of Science and Technology, City of Mati, Davao Oriental, 8200. Philippines. Email:

mcatubig15@gmail.com. Villano: UNE Business School, University of New England, Armidale,

NSW 2351, Australia. Email: rvillan2@une.edu.au.

© 2017 East Asian Economic Association and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd

Asian Economic Journal 2017, Vol.31 No. 4, 403–421 403

protection efforts. This initiative, a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, is

known locally as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). A monetary

incentive is granted to qualified households provided they comply with some

predetermined requirements in relation to school enrolment, school attendance

and health care. Initial evaluation of the pilot program showed that school enrol-

ments and attendance rates increased significantly, and elementary school com-

pletion rates increased from 67.5 to 73 percent (i.e. from around two-thirds to

three-quarters of pupil numbers).

1

Most impact evaluation studies conducted on

CCT indicate positive and favorable results on a range of outcomes.

Since the launch of the 4Ps in the Philippines in 2008, very few empirical

studies have examined the likely impacts of the program. Son and Florentino

(2008) conducted an ex-ante impact evaluation of the CCT program on school

attendance and poverty. Manasan (2011) compared the growth rate in school

enrolment before and after the implementation of the Set 1 areas of the 4Ps.

More comprehensive and rigorous evaluation of the impact of the CCT program

in the Philippines on school enrolment was performed by Chaudhury and Oka-

mura (2012) and Chaudhury et al. (2013). In Chaudhury et al. (2013), the

authors indicated that their sampling was not designed to be statistically repre-

sentative at the provincial level and yet their findings suggest that the program

impacts differ across provinces. Some potential reasons for such differences are

due to effectiveness in program implementation, supply-side differences, and

other socio-environmental factors. Variation in estimates at the country and pro-

vincial level is expected because no social program has the same impact across

time and space.

To contribute to understanding the impact of CCT, the present study exam-

ines the likely impact of 4Ps on school outcomes in a particular provincial con-

text. This study is an attempt to provide additional information to better

understand the reasons behind the differences mentioned above. In addition,

evaluating the impact of 4Ps at a micro level enables a detailed assessment of

the effect of the program in a provincial-specific context. We focus our analysis

on the school enrolment rate, being one of the major objectives of the 4Ps inter-

vention, in the province of Davao Oriental, Philippines. This province is ranked

as one of the poorest in the southern region of the Philippines, with a poverty

incidence of 53 percent in 2009 (NSCB, 2011).

The present paper proceeds as follows. Section II provides a synoptic review

of the literature on CCT programs in general and on the 4Ps in particular, and

the methods of evaluation used. Section III outlines the method and data used in

the research and the source of data. A justification for the choice of the method

and data used in the research is also provided. Section IV discusses the results,

with a brief summary and the implications of these results presented in

Section V.

1 Source: http://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/linked-documents/43407-01-phi-ssa.pdf.

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