Evaluation of Jamaicas Path - Essay Example

Review of Evaluation of Jamaica's Path The article deals with the findings on PATH which is a conditional transfer program that was implemented by the Jamaican government. The program was implemented in the intended manner to target the poor. It showed a positive impact in all schools in Jamaica and it also excellent in health sector. The program has become a success though there is no tangible evidence to prove this. The policy makers and academic institutions in Jamaica have been very keen with the conditional cash transfer program. The program is concerned with provision of cash transfers to health centers and academic institutions. The program has grown to other parts of the world. In the article the growth of CCT is referred to as the CCT wave. This program has been proved to be very efficient in the education and the health sectors in many countries in the world. The program is also affected by some factors like the household and the quality of the services provision. Furthermore, the program is implemented differently in different parts of the world. In addition, the other variables are the amount of benefits accrued and the input amount also varies. In Jamaica the program analyzed is called the PATH- program of advancement through health and education. PATH as an organization has two major components. It gives assistance to the children below 17 years in education and health sectors. The organization is committed as it visits health centers after two weeks during the first year and two times in the second and consecutive years. It offers social grants to pregnant women, the poor mothers, the disabled women and the destitute adults below 65 years. The care and the grants are non-conditional in all the regular clinics. To fully understand the program, figure 1 gives the facts in a table manner. There are some differences between short term and the long term outcomes of this program. In the model, the short-term outcomes are felt after the beneficiaries enroll. In the model, the long term outcomes is shown by dotted lines and it takes some more time to cause an effect that can increase human capital for the poor. There are several conditions that are put out for one to be eligible to participate in this program. First, a firm has to apply to the labor and the Social Security Ministry parish offices. Also it has to provide a detailed socio-economic and a demographic information which will allow MLSS to be in a position to calculate an applicable household score. The score is later used in finding the eligibility of the program. The evaluation program was based on the site visit which was conducted in two distinct rounds. In each of the rounds that were conducted, there was a random visit to the chosen parishes in whole country. There was focus on groups which had some beneficiaries and an interview with the MLSS representatives either from health centers, schools and post offices. Eligibility information was given out by the interviewees and the participants of the focus group. The two parties also provided adequate information about the health, education requirements and the adequate benefits. The success of PATH was fostered by MLSS operations. The stakeholders had a feeling that the program’s missions had been adequately accomplished. Despite the success in the program, there are some weaknesses that should be improved. First, the beneficiaries have to receive their dues on time. This will reduce the hardships that the beneficiaries face. Delays can lead to many problems as the shareholders in PATH do not have any spare resources which can lead to difficulties in finance management. Secondly, the stakeholders have to be provided by accurate information about participation of the healthcare and schools. The suspension of the PATH benefits should be disputed. Furthermore, MLSS should make a quick pay after an error has been realized. This will lead to a satisfaction of the both parties. During the analysis, PATH was created to increase Jamaica’s ability in the social safety system in channeling assistance to the individual and households that needed financial assistance. In the analysis, about 58% of the benefits were set to the poorest potion of the whole population. To effectively realize that PATH was a success, the comparison of other CCTs in relation to the benefits accrued, PATH was the leader. The comparisons vary depending on the country due to difference in poverty levels. Despite the marked effectiveness in PATH’s accomplishing its targets, there was room for better services to its members. There was an assessment on how effective PATH was. Initially, the poverty level during the time this data was collected was 20%. During the enrolment, 59% of the enrollees were poor Jamaicans. During the analysis, the program came up with an empirical strategy where the applicants according to the programs depending on their eligibility score. The organization used a regression discontinuity design where applicants were compared below the threshold while those applicants that were above it were termed as near eligible. Therefore, the organization’s estimation of the dependant variable becomes the outcome of interest. Furthermore, the explanatory variable is viewed as an indicator of an individual being a member of a participant group of only ‘barely eligibles’. In this assumption, the vital control variable becomes the household eligibility score. Thus, the comparison samples and the participants comprise 2500 households which applies to PATH. This is the group that had children and naturally differed as the participant household’s score was below average while the comparison household’s score was above the threshold. Therefore, the organization used a regression discontinuity model which had the participant group, the household indicator and the household eligibility score represented in the function. The regressions used were applied at an individual level while family correlation used the Huber-White standards. The organization used two vital issues in their assumptions. First, it had to determine the kind of functional form to be used to enter the score into the estimation equation. It also had to assess the extent at which the score statistically accounts for the differences between the comparison groups and the participants. This forced the organization to carry out a placebo regression by applying baseline survey data. The core value of this was to estimate the regression that was similar to the one specified with the use of the baseline survey data outcomes. The organization conducted 16 regressions with each placebo tests having four different specifications. Thus, the placebo tests results led to a support which involved a regression discontinuity design aimed at estimating impacts from PATH. In table 2, the coefficient of the participant group indicator does not have any statistical significance. It has no significance on either health or education. More so, a linear specification of this score in the estimation regression impact is actually among the reasonable ways to proceed. Therefore, the presented findings on such specifications we come up with results that are robust as compared to other formulations. The approach does not need comparison groups and the participants to be similar in a statistical manner. This is because the scoring formula is determined by the program eligibility and should account for the differences that are found between the two groups. The comparison groups and the participants are actually similar in terms of health and education. The respondents in both comparison groups and the participants had similar reasons for failing to send their children to schools and had similar health patterns. The article analyzes the impact on education and the outcomes. In the analysis of the impact that PATH has had on education with various specifications accounted for, the child’s attendance becomes the dependant variable in this case. PATH had a great impact on school attendance as it caused 0.48 days more than the previous attendance. Though the estimated impact decreases with household eligibility score then the increase remains significant. In the article, the coefficient to the eligibility score is not considered statistically significant. As normally expected, the third and the fourth specifications should introduce a baseline attendance variable with the vector to the household characteristics. This does not occur and it does not show any statistical significance or the basic magnitude in the estimated impact. This goes against the normal increase in impact on the baseline indicator. There is a second panel with similar significance levels and coefficient patterns. Thus, with the two panels, the impact on school is estimated to range between 0.5. to 0.55 in a 20 day period. All this increase is attributed to the impact of PATH. More so, magnitude of effects can also be examined by use of data from another country. This kind of estimation has several faults as the CCT programs involved tend to focus on the enrolment increase as compared to attendance. These effects and focus are similar to those of PATH. From the data, there is 11 programs related to PATH while 10 other programs in other countries. Different programs had different outcome percentage. Therefore, the outcome variable is high in terms of percentage making limited chance for achievable change to be realized. From the findings, one can easily deduce that the small PATH effect is due to high initial attendance. In the attendance analysis, the estimates are directly proportional to the impacts felt by PATH. They aim at the PATH participants which imply that the program involves an eligibility cut-off. Therefore, it means that the estimate made by PATH is either below the participant group or above the comparison group. The impacts are very vital in the assessment of consequences in expanding the cutting of the organization at its margin. The estimates is significant to the policy makers who may have little r no interest in expansion of PATH. One cannot easily generalize the findings to house that has an eligibility score below the cut-off. The larger the impact felt by program the higher the extent at which the impacts can be generalized. It can also be estimated that various subgroups can be affected by PATH. Therefore, the impact felt by PATH is just an estimate. In the estimate, attendance days using the fourth specification regression, includes eligibility score, household characteristics and the baseline outcome. Thus, as depicted by table 5 in the article, the estimate impacts felt by girls and boys is similar. Despite this, the impacts have not been proved statistically. Geographical area of residence is the only statistical significant impact. It is also speculated that older children may feel importance of the program as they lower the attendance and the enrolment rate. Furthermore, there is no substantial evidence that PATH had a higher impact in education on children with low attendance level. In education, the impact of PATH is determined by the rate at which sanctions are exercised when there is non-compliance with the requirements of PATH. Rationale for sanctions in reduced benefits is as a result to fail meeting the requirements in school. However, there were errors which arose from the confusion made by respondents. The respondents had similar reasons in relation to absentees. In health, PATH used the regression specification analogous like those presented in education. The analysis involves both the adults and children. Due the difference between PATH requirements in the two age sets, the impact estimation is carried out separately. In table 6, children with different ages are represented with dependent variable being the frequency of visit to the health practitioner. The results in this case are similar to that in school attendance. The only difference with the school attendance is that the eligibility score is very significant. Thus, PATH registered a positive statistical impact on the preventive care health care visits by the youth in this program. There is no statistical significance on the adults. Similar with education, preventive care utilization merges with findings from other countries. The estimates are also similar for both girls and boys. There is statistical insignificance due to the limited sample size that the sub groups have. Therefore, in PATH analysis, the eligibility with which the score spans applies a wider participant quarter. Thus, in this analysis, the required threshold was not applied. In addition, the participants were restricted to those within the time limit. In the analysis, the regression specification that was used included the baseline version only. Furthermore, the household can feel that there is an overemphasis on health and education. Work Cited Dan Levy and Ohls, Jim . Evaluation of Jamaica's PATH Conditional Cash Transfer Program, Journal of Development Effectiveness 4. 2 (2010): 421-441. Print. Read More