Alternative Transfer Schemes for Transferencias a Primera Infancia (TPI) in Urban Areas

Last registered on May 13, 2024

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Alternative Transfer Schemes for Transferencias a Primera Infancia (TPI) in Urban Areas
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012962
Initial registration date
April 30, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
May 09, 2024, 2:14 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
May 13, 2024, 4:12 PM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
University of Chicago
PI Affiliation
University of Chicago
PI Affiliation
University of Chicago
PI Affiliation
Ministry of Economy and Finance
PI Affiliation
Ministry of Economy and Finance
PI Affiliation
University of Chicago
PI Affiliation
University of Chicago

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-05-02
End date
2026-01-31
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study examines the impact of modifications to the Transferencia a Primera Infancia (TPI) in urban areas. The TPI is a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program available to households that are part of the JUNTOS program (Peru’s flagship CCT program) and have a pregnant woman or a child less than 12 months old. The study will examine the impact of increasing the benefit amount on household welfare, child health, and child cognitive development.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Cooper, Ryan et al. 2024. "Alternative Transfer Schemes for Transferencias a Primera Infancia (TPI) in Urban Areas." AEA RCT Registry. May 13. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12962-2.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
JUNTOS is a CCT program in Peru that targets households under the poverty line. The base transfer (TB) amount, unchanged since the program's start in 2005, is 100 soles (33.4 USD in 2005, 26.22 USD in 2024) per month. Starting in 2021, the program expanded to cover all districts, including urban areas. At the same time, JUNTOS introduced the TPI, an additional monthly monetary transfer of 50 soles, specifically for households with pregnant women and newborns.

TPI introduces new conditionalities for households, which, along with those of the base transfer, form a comprehensive health package for pregnant women (including auxiliary exams, iron, and folic acid supplementation) and children up to 12 months old (vaccination schedule, hemoglobin testing, and age-appropriate iron supplementation). The TPI benefit ceases if households fail to meet one of the conditionalities or when the child exceeds 12 months.

The study aims to provide evidence on the marginal impact of an increase in the TPI amount compared to the current scheme. It will evaluate how these schemes affect child-level outcomes like anemia, malnutrition, and cognitive development and household-level outcomes such as food expenditure, consumption, and perceptions of well-being.
Intervention Start Date
2024-05-02
Intervention End Date
2025-10-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Household expenditure, household savings, health of children under 1-year-old, children's cognitive development in the long term
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Still under consideration.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Compliance with conditionalities of the JUNTOS program: Including vaccination schedule, hemoglobin testing, and age-appropriate iron supplementation).
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Still under consideration.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
There will be two levels of randomization, one at the geographic level (clusters) and the second at the individual level. Cluster boundaries coincide directly with district boundaries. However, some large districts were subdivided into smaller sub-units, resulting in 230 clusters.

1. Cluster-level randomization): Clusters will be divided into two groups
1.1. Treatment (40%, 92 clusters): All households in these clusters will receive 80 soles.
1.2. Control (60%, 138 clusters): Clusters will receive 50 soles. Households can enter a lottery to receive 70 extra soles (see household randomization for details).

2. Household-level randomization: Within each cluster that receives 50 soles (defined as control in the cluster-level randomization), households will be randomized into two groups where treated households get an additional 70 soles and control households the status quo. Households will be divided into two groups.
2.1. Treatment (50% of 60%=30% of sample, 8,400 households): They receive 120 soles monthly.
2.2. Control (50% of 60%=30% of sample, 8,400 households): They receive 50 soles monthly.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization will be done by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Two randomizations will be conducted to vary the transfer amounts.
1. Randomization at the cluster level
2. Randomization at the household level
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
230 clusters. Cluster boundaries coincide mostly with the boundaries of the 212 districts in the study. Large districts were further subdivided, resulting in 230 geographic regions referred to as clusters.
Sample size: planned number of observations
28,000 households
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
At the cluster level, 92 clusters will be assigned to the "high TPI base rate" condition (80 soles) and 138 clusters will be assigned to the status quo TPI base rate (50 soles)

At the household level, 8,400 households from the 138 status-quo clusters will receive an additional transfer of 70 additional soles. 8,400 households will continue to receive 50 soles.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number