Effect of monetary incentives on institutional deliveries: evidence from the Janani Suraksha Yojna in India
This paper is the rst attempt to rigorously evaluate the short term e ects of the `Janani Suraksha Yojna' (Safe Motherhood Scheme), a nationwide conditional cash transfer program in India, launched
in April 2005. Under the scheme, a woman delivering her child in a medical facility is provided monetary rewards. In fact, the gap widened in this period, albeit marginally. But beginning from 2007,
the targeted states have shown much larger improvements in the institutional deliveries, leading to a dramatic decline in the gap between the targeted and the non-targeted states.