Impact of Cash Transfer Programmes on School Attendance and Child Poverty: An Ex Ante Simulation for Sri Lanka

Kumara, Ajantha Sisira; Pfau, Wade

doi:10.1080/00220388.2010.536223

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Although it is important from the standpoint of household welfare, increased allocations for communication in poorer households and rural households and increased-allocations for recreation rural households receiving remittances may deplete the positive impact created on fulfilment of basic needs and human and physical capital development. In such a situation, improved results can be expected with careful monitoring of remittances from the sender's point of view (Kumara and Pfau, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Where do Remittances Go in Household Consumption? Empirical Evidence from Sri Lanka‐Wide Micro‐data

Samaratunge

Kumara

Abeysekera

2020

International Migration

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Private internal and international remittances are a major source of household money in Sri Lanka, yet their impact on household welfare has long been a research gap. Based on the Migration and Development Theory, this article examines how private remittances affect household expenditure behaviour, using nationally representative microdata and applying quasi-experimental methods. Private remittances have significantly increased household percapita expenditure and initiated positive behavioural changes via increased allocations for basic needs, human and physical capital investment. Compared with internal remittances, the impact of international remittance shows a strong potential for reducing poverty incidence and improving people's well-being: households in richer/richest expenditure quartiles and urban households invest in education, which supports the country's long-standing record of education. Rural households demonstrate favourable changes in spending behaviour with receiving private remittances. From a public policy standpoint, government favours migration so that remittances are more likely to flow. A proper remittance-transfer mechanism to encourage smooth remittance is thus required.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Where do Remittances Go in Household Consumption? Empirical Evidence from Sri Lanka‐Wide Micro‐data

Samaratunge

Kumara

Abeysekera

2020

International Migration

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“…The positive link between family income and private education expenses is consistent with previous literature (Tansel and Bircan, 2006; Bray et al , 2014; Acar et al , 2016). Therefore, the role of cash transfers in promoting household budget allocations for education to reduce economic burden could be considered as it could encourage the school attendance (Kumara and Pfau, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spending privately for education despite having a free public education policy: evidence from Sri Lankan household surveys

Pallegedara

Kumara

2020

IJSE

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PurposeCompared to other neighbouring South Asian countries, Sri Lanka performs well in terms of education outcomes. Education is provided by the government for free from primary school level to the first-degree University level, yet households’ private education expenses are steadily increasing over time. Thus, this paper analyses trends and determinants of household private education expenditures using the country-wide micro-data from 1990 to 2013.Design/methodology/approachUsing Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 1990/91, 2002 and 2012/13 data along with annual school census data, this paper examines the relationship between private education expenditure patterns and the observed changes of reported both demand-side and supply-side factors. In particular, the present paper analyses determinants of household private education expenditures within the two-part model econometric framework by taking into account location and time fixed-effects.FindingsThe results show that trend of spending privately for education is increasing over time with rising household income. Rural, Tamil and Islamic households and those headed by less-educated members are less likely to spend privately for education. The results also confirm that improved-supply-side factors can significantly lower the household burden arising from out-of-pocket education expenditure.Research limitations/implicationsUnavailability of panel data and missing data on several districts due to security concerns are limitations of the study.Social implicationsThe trend of increasing private education expenses has implications on equity concerns of education in Sri Lanka, and it can undermine the purpose of free public education policy.Originality/valueTo our knowledge, this is the first study for Sri Lanka that examines patterns and determinants of private education expenditures using nationwide data for last two decades. This paper applies novel econometric techniques to account for various issues in household survey data analysis.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-07-2019-0445

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“…Such investment in the education of the children is vital in improving their human capital and prospects for employment and can therefore play an important role in long term poverty reduction [7,8,56]. Kumara and Pfau [57] analyzed such programs in Sri Lanka and found that cash transfers in the country significantly reduced child poverty and also increased school attendance and child welfare. Barrientos and Dejong [58], Monchuk [59], Banerjee et al [60], Page and Pande [23], Hanna and Olken [61], and World Bank [8] strongly support cash transfer programs and contend that these programs are a key instrument in reducing poverty, deprivation, and vulnerability among children and their households.…”

Section: Cash/income Transfer Programsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Poverty Reduction Strategies in Developing Countries

Ayoo¹

2022

Rural Development - Education, Sustainability, Multifunctionality

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The existence of extreme poverty in several developing countries is a critical challenge that needs to be addressed urgently because of its adverse implications on human wellbeing. Its manifestations include lack of adequate food and nutrition, lack of access to adequate shelter, lack of access to safe drinking water, low literacy rates, high infant and maternal mortality, high rates of unemployment, and a feeling of vulnerability and disempowerement. Poverty reduction can be attained by stimulating economic growth to increase incomes and expand employment opportunities for the poor; undertaking economic and institutional reforms to enhance efficiency and improve the utilization of resources; prioritizing the basic needs of the poor in national development policies; promoting microfinance programs to remove constraints to innovation, entrepreneurship, and small scale business; developing and improving marketing systems to improve production; providing incentives to the private sector; and, implementing affirmative actions such as targeted cash transfers to ensure that the social and economic benefits of poverty reduction initiatives reach the demographics that might otherwise be excluded.

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Impact of Cash Transfer Programmes on School Attendance and Child Poverty: An Ex Ante Simulation for Sri Lanka

Cited by 8 publications

References 13 publications

Where do Remittances Go in Household Consumption? Empirical Evidence from Sri Lanka‐Wide Micro‐data

Where do Remittances Go in Household Consumption? Empirical Evidence from Sri Lanka‐Wide Micro‐data

Spending privately for education despite having a free public education policy: evidence from Sri Lankan household surveys

Poverty Reduction Strategies in Developing Countries

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