Study Proposal: Do Larger School Grants Improve Educational Attainment?: Evidence from Urban Mexico

While the effects of conditional cash transfers on primary school enrollment, attendance and dropouts are well documented, few studies address their impact on longer-term outcomes like high-school graduation. The literature is even scarcer regarding how changes in the amount of school grants affect educational outcomes, particularly in middle and high school, where dropout rates are much higher. This study will address the effects of increased cash grants on high school graduation rates in the context of urban Mexico. Starting in 2009, new beneficiary families in the Oportunidades conditional cash transfer program received an alternative transfer scheme in 263 urban localities, eliminating school grants for primary school and increasing the grant amount in middle and high school by 25 percent. Using administrative data sources and a difference-in-difference identification strategy, we will analyze the effects on dropout rates and high-school graduation rates.