Text

theses

The challenge of evaluating anti-poverty interventions in non-experimental settings lies in establishing a causal linkage between an intervention and a desired outcome. While randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are rightfully regarded as the gold standard, they are not practically or ethically feasible in all development projects. This dissertation focuses on the use of natural experiments to evaluate the intended and unintended consequences of anti-poverty interventions on children. Designed around unplanned events, natural experiments provide information comparable to RCTs, and are cost and time efficient. Article 1 summarizes the evidence from natural experiments on the effects of interventions that increase income and education. Article 2 summarizes the evidence from several natural experiments that evaluate the effects of India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), an employment policy. Broad findings suggest that while the policy successfully targeted poor households, and increased rural employment and wages, it had the unintended consequence of increasing child labor, and decreasing educational outcomes. Article 3 uses data from a nationally representative survey to evaluate the effects of the policy on child work. Results suggest that child and household level characteristics have a significant effect on determining child work. Further, as suggested by the literature, children living in households that worked under the policy are more likely to be engaged in work (both paid and domestic) than children living in non-participant households. While it is not possible to make causal attributions, possible explanations include unintended effects of the policy or household selection effects.

ETD_7351

Ph.D.

Includes bibliographical references

Includes vita

by Neeta Goel

doi:10.7282/T39S1T4X

ETD doctoral

The author owns the copyright to this work.