Conditions, conditionality, conditionalities, responsibilities - finding common ground

Abstract

The question of whether to condition a social cash transfer program or not has been controversially debated in the development scene, often without a clear concept of what conditionality constitutes, what it can realistically achieve and where the limitations are. In addition, debates are based on inconclusive and scarce evidence. The aim of this paper is to generate a common understanding about the concept of and theory behind conditionality, to highlight the different factors that prove essential in determining whether conditionality makes a social cash transfer program more cost-effective and to bring together existing evidence. While building on many important contributions made by other authors, the value added of this paper is to clearly differentiate between different dimensions of conditionality, to bring together a theoretical economic perspective with insights from psychology and political science, to comprehensively and systematically disentangle all factors that determine the impact conditionality can have on the cost-effectiveness of social cash transfer programs and to cite evidence beyond conditionality�۪s influence on household behavior. The paper is supposed to equip policy-makers with a decision-making framework for deciding on whether to opt for conditionality or not and it is supposed to direct academics to areas where further research is required. Key words: Conditionality, social cash transfers, cost-effectiveness, evidence, low-income country

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