The Impact of the PROGRESA/Oportunidades Conditional Cash Transfer Program on Health and Related Outcomes for the Aging in Mexico

Conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs link public transfers to human capital investment in hopes of alleviating current poverty and reducing its intergenerational transmission. Whereas nearly all studies of their impacts have focused on youth, these CCT programs may also have an impact on aging adults, by increasing household resources or inducing changes in allocations of time of various household members, that may be of substantial interest, particularly given the rapid aging of most populations. This paper contributes to this under-researched area by examining health and work impacts on the aging for the best known and most influential of these programs, the Mexican PROGRESA/Oportunidades program. For a number of health indicators, the program appears to significantly improve health, with impacts that are larger with a greater time receiving the program. However, most of these health impacts are concentrated on women.conditional cash transfers, aging, health, Mexico

Controlling Diversion: How Can we Convert the Toshiba-Kongsberg Controversy into a Victory for the West

Since the revelations last year that a Toshiba Corporation subsidiary illegally sold the Soviet Union tools to make superquiet submarine propellers, the United States government has struggled to develop an appropriate response for punishing the Japanese company. Unfortunately, the proposals advanced by the United States have not been directed at using this episode to advance meaningful reforms in both domestic and multilateral export controls. This Perspective will examine the Toshiba-Kongsberg case, summarize the current state of export controls, and suggest a strategy to improve upon the poor record of the West in controlling the diversion of strategic technology to the Soviet Union and other communist bloc countries

Introduction

As we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Georgia Law Review at the University of Georgia, I pause to consider the impact that my legal scholarship and training have made on my long career in higher education. Following six years as an Assistant United States Attorney and twelve years as a faculty member, I accepted my first position in administration at UGA as Acting Executive Director of Legal Affairs in 1998. This transition from the faculty to administration proved to be a seminal moment in my career. I would go on to serve in a number of other senior administrative roles, with increasing levels of responsibility at UGA, until becoming President of the institution in 2013. In my early years as an academic administrator, I first came to see the value of legal scholarship and training related to effective leadership in higher education. I vividly recall a meeting involving a number of senior university administrators who were convened to discuss a controversial issue. It was not the resolution but rather the nature of the discussion that made an impression on me that day. I was joined in the meeting by a colleague who also had a background in law. I was struck by the similarity in the rhetorical approaches to our arguments: we both presented our positions on the issues in a detached, logical, and reasoned manner-a sign, indeed, of the legal education we held in common

Controlling Diversion: How Can we Convert the Toshiba-Kongsberg Controversy into a Victory for the West

Since the revelations last year that a Toshiba Corporation subsidiary illegally sold the Soviet Union tools to make superquiet submarine propellers, the United States government has struggled to develop an appropriate response for punishing the Japanese company. Unfortunately, the proposals advanced by the United States have not been directed at using this episode to advance meaningful reforms in both domestic and multilateral export controls. This Perspective will examine the Toshiba-Kongsberg case, summarize the current state of export controls, and suggest a strategy to improve upon the poor record of the West in controlling the diversion of strategic technology to the Soviet Union and other communist bloc countries

Long-Term Impacts of the Oportunidades Conditional Cash Transfer Program on Rural Youth in Mexico

This paper studies the long-term effects of participation in the Mexican Oportunidades program on a variety of outcomes and behaviors of rural youth in Mexico. It analyzes data from a social experiment, which randomly phased-in the program in rural Mexican villages. In 1997, 320 villages (the treatment group) were randomly selected for early incorporation into the program and 186 villages (the control group) were designated as a control group to be incorporated eighteen months later. This paper examines whether differential exposure to the program significantly impacted educational attainment, labor market outcomes, marriage, migration and cognitive achievement of youth. The results show positive impacts of longer exposure on grades of schooling attained, but no effects on achievement tests. With respect to work, we find an overall reduction in work for male youth.

The Impact of the PROGRESA/Oportunidades Conditional Cash Transfer Program on Health and Related Outcomes for the Aging in Mexico

Conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs link public transfers to human capital investment in hopes of alleviating current poverty and reducing its intergenerational transmission. Whereas nearly all studies of their impacts have focused on youth, these CCT programs may also have an impact on aging adults, by increasing household resources or inducing changes in allocations of time of various household members, that may be of substantial interest, particularly given the rapid aging of most populations. This paper contributes to this under-researched area by examining health and work impacts on the aging for the best-known and most influential of these programs, the Mexican PROGRESA/Oportunidades program. For a number of health indicators, the program appears to significantly improve health, with impacts that are larger with a greater time receiving the program. However, most of these health impacts are concentrated on women