Do conditional cash transfers improve antenatal care outcomes in Senegal? Combining non-experimental and quasi-experimental evaluations

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper evaluates the effects of a conditional cash transfer (CCT) on antenatal consultations in Senegal. We conduct a non-experimental and a quasi-experimental evaluations, in which the control group is constructed using a propensity score matching method. While the non-experimental approach alone does not allow to conclude on the impact of the CCT, the quasi-experimental approach reveals that the CCT significatively increases antenatal consultations of beneficiaries. The combination of non-experimental and quasi-experimental evaluations has the potential to offer evaluation of social policies in a cost-effective way, using existing information, such as administrative data and already-collected survey data.