Reproducibility package for Medium-Term Impacts Of Integrated Social Safety Nets: Cash Transfers, Information Meetings, And Home Visits For Child Development
Overview
Cash transfers are a critical part of social safety nets. However, integrated programs combining cash and parenting interventions through either group-based information meetings or home visits have recently been adopted to improve child development. Working with the Burkina Faso government, we conduct a randomized experiment in 225 rural villages to assess the impact of an integrated social safety net over the child’s life cycle. Villages were randomized to a control group or one of the following treatments: cash transfers; cash transfers plus government-run group-based information meetings focused on children’s health and psychosocial development; or cash transfers, information, and home visits reinforcing the information meetings. Fifteen months after treatment ended, households receiving cash, information, and home visits have fewer pregnancies, more medically assisted childbirths, enhanced health behaviors, and better educational outcomes. Home visits are critical for improving early childhood development, while cash, with or without information, shows no such lasting impacts.
Reproducibility Package
| Repository name | URI |
|---|---|
| Reproducible Research Repository (World Bank) | https://reproducibility.worldbank.org |
Reproducibility
Paper exhibits were reproduced on a computer with the following specifications:
• OS: Windows 11 Enterprise
• Processor: INTEL(R) XEON(R) PLATINUM 8562Y+ 2.80 GHz (4 processors)
• Memory available: 32.0 GB
Run time: ~ 2 hours
- Secure Access to Data: Access the datasets not included in the package. See subsection Datasets and the README for more details.
- Download and Place Data: Once the data is downloaded, users should place it in the appropriate folder.
- Run the Package: After placing the data in the folder:
- Update the global in line 8 of the do-file "00_master_do_2025June" to your folder's location and run the do-file
Since all the data is not included, the package includes the results produced by replicators in the Results folder. These files can be used to review the results presented in the paper.
Data
Some data is not yet publicly available but is expected to be made available through the World Bank Microdata Library and Development Data Hub in the future.
Description
| Author | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Damien de Walque | World Bank | ddewalque@worldbank.org |
| Richard Akresh | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, | akresh@illinois.edu |
| Harounan Kazianga | Oklahoma State University | harounan.kazianga@okstate.edu |
| Abigail Stocker | College of William and Mary | ajstocker@wm.edu |
2025-11-04
Scope and coverage
| Location | Code |
|---|---|
| Burkina Faso | BFA |
Disclaimer
The materials in the reproducibility packages are distributed as they were prepared by the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this event do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank, the Executive Directors of the World Bank, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the materials included in the reproducibility package.
Access and rights
| Name | URI |
|---|---|
| Modified BSD3 | https://opensource.org/license/bsd-3-clause/ |
Contacts
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Damien de Walque | World Bank | ddewalque@worldbank.org |
| Reproducibility WBG | World Bank | reproducibility@worldbank.org |
Information on metadata
| Name | Abbreviation | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproducibility WBG | DECDI | World Bank - Development Impact Department | Verification and preparation of metadata |
2025-11-04
1