The Institute of Health Economics (IHE) congratulates Mr. Fabian Sauer on his “Leibniz Talents” award in the category “Outstanding academic achievements”, received for his bachelor thesis “Health Spillovers of Conditional Cash Transfers: A Systematic Review” (supervised by Prof. Dr. Arndt Reichert, IHE).
The thesis deals with the topic of conditional cash transfers (CCTs) and their indirect health effects. CCTs are social security programs which offer money to households in need of monetary aid - however, this monetary aid is tied to conditions (e.g., in the areas of education or health). In order to achieve a long-term reduction of intergenerational poverty, the conditions tied to CCTs often focus on the education and health of affected children. In many countries in South America, South East Asia and Africa, CCTs are a substantial component of social infrastructure - therefore, answering questions on the indirect effects of such CCTs is very relevant in today's economic literature.
In his bachelor thesis, Mr. Sauer presents a systematic comoparison of a variety of CCTs with regard to their coverage and financing. Additionally, he also looks at heterogenous conditions tied to the receipt of CCTs. In order to categorize the existing empirical literature, five mechanism that can cause indirect effects of CCTs are identified: income effect, public good effect, contagion effect, trust effect and social effect. By identifying these mechanism, the thesis aims to move away from solely focusing on effect sizes and instead also deal with the underlying pathways through which CCTs impact health.
More information on the “Leibniz Talents” Awards can be found here (in German).
We once again congratulate Fabian Sauer on this outstanding achievement!
