Searching for Effective Poverty Interventions: Conditional Cash Transfers in the Philippines

Abstract

Conditional cash transfer (CCT), which was initiated in 2007, is becoming a centerpiece of the social protection system in the Philippines. This note reviews economic rationales for transferring a cash grant to the poor contingent on their certain behavior, major challenges in designing a CCT program, targeting methodologies, and impact evaluation designs, to show how the Philippines' CCT program is designed to resolve major difficulties in its design, targeting, and evaluation. The CCT program with a rigorous impact evaluation offers an excellent opportunity for policy makers and development practitioners to learn what works and what does not work in searching for effective poverty interventions.