Behavioral Insights for Development: Cases from Central America by Oscar Calvo-González & Laura Zoratto

Author:Oscar Calvo-González & Laura Zoratto
Language: eng
Format: epub

Intervention Design

MIFAMILIA implemented the Atención a Crisis pilot program between November 2005 and December 2006 in six municipalities in rural Nicaragua. The program had two objectives: The first was to provide a short-run safety net by reducing the need for adverse coping mechanisms, such as taking children out of school or reducing food consumption. The second was to promote long-run upward mobility and poverty reduction by enhancing households’ asset base and income diversification capacity.

The basic intervention was modeled after an earlier CCT in Nicaragua called Red de Protección Social (Social Protection Network). Under the terms of the Atención a Crisis program, all beneficiaries received payments adding up to US$145 over the full year. The payments were made bimonthly. Eligible households with or without children received this same base cash transfer. On average, this basic cash transfer covered 15 percent of per capita expenditures of the average recipient household.

The treatment communities were split into three groups, each of which received a different benefit package: (a) a basic CCT; (b) a CCT plus a scholarship allowing one household member to participate in a vocational training course; or (c) a CCT plus a productive investment grant, aimed at encouraging recipients to start a small nonagricultural activity (box 3.1).

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