How much do conditional cash transfers increase the utilization of maternal and child health care services? New evidence from Janani Suraksha Yojana in India

•We estimate the effects of conditional cash transfer program, Janani Suraksha Yojana, on the utilization of maternal and child health services in India.•We apply both propensity score matching (PSM) and fuzzy regression discontinuity (FRD) design.•According to PSM, program beneficiaries are around...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Economics and human biology 2018-09, Vol.31, p.164-183
Main Authors: Rahman, Mohammad Mahbubur, Pallikadavath, Saseendran
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Birth Setting - statistics & numerical data
Demand-side financing
Humans
India
Janani Suraksha Yojana
Maternal-Child Health Services - economics
Maternal-Child Health Services - statistics & numerical data
Motivation
Propensity Score
Propensity score matching
Residence Characteristics
Socioeconomic Factors
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Summary:•We estimate the effects of conditional cash transfer program, Janani Suraksha Yojana, on the utilization of maternal and child health services in India.•We apply both propensity score matching (PSM) and fuzzy regression discontinuity (FRD) design.•According to PSM, program beneficiaries are around 16 percentage points more likely to have institutional deliveries.•When we apply FRD design, that estimate becomes around 23 percentage points.•Effects of JSY vary by state, wealth, and the place of birth. Janani Suraksha Yojana (safe motherhood scheme, or JSY) provides cash incentives to marginal pregnant women in India conditional on having mainly institutional delivery. Using the fourth round of district level household survey (DLHS-4), we have estimated its effects on both intended and unintended outcomes. Our estimates of average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) from propensity score matching are remarkably higher than those found in previous prominent studies using the second and third rounds of the survey (DLHS-2 and DLHS-3). When we apply fuzzy regression discontinuity design exploiting the second birth order, our estimates of local average treatment effect (LATE) are much higher than that of ATT. For example, due to JSY, institutional delivery increases by around 16 percentage points according to ATT estimate but about 23 percentage points according to LATE estimate.
ISSN:1570-677X
1873-6130
DOI:10.1016/j.ehb.2018.08.007