Poverty and Rural Development: the case of CCTs in Mexico

This thesis analyzes the effectiveness of Mexican Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs)
programs such as Progresa-Oportunidades-Prospera (POP) to eradicate rural poverty.
Initially launched in rural localities with high degrees of marginalization, they seek to
overcome rural poverty by making regular payments to poor households on the condition that
they invest in the human capital of their children (Cecchini and Martinez, 2012: 87; Levy,
2008). CCTs are among the most widespread social policies in middle-income economies,
and the national social policy. They have ostensibly succeeded in their short-term goals, such
as increased consumption capacity, increased health check-ups, as well as increased
enrollment and school attendance among beneficiaries (Fiszbein and Schady, 2009; Levy,
2008; and Parker and Todd, 2017). Notwithstanding, evidence on their long-term objectives
including poverty eradication is weak. Additionally, data shows a stagnation in poverty levels
since the 1990s, when CCTs were introduced in Mexico, suggesting that they have been
insufficient to eradicate rural poverty. Using mixed methods, including database analysis,
document analysis, and semi-structured interviews, I assessed the extent to which Mexican
CCT programs such as Progresa-Oportunidades-Prospera (POP) and Productive Territories
Program (PTP) have been effective in eradicating rural poverty. The analysis shows that the
concepts and assumptions that informed the design of the CCTs follow a merely economic
logic that does not represent the real needs and characteristics of rural societies. Mexican
CCTs are isolated from a broad development strategy that keeps the possible
complementarities with other programs and sectors dispersed, allowing the intrusion of
interests outside the program. This ultimately reduces the effectiveness of the CCTs in
eradicating rural poverty, which in the best-case scenario mitigates the collateral effects of
economic openness and globalization.