Analysis and discussion of "Cash on Delivery" aid

The Center for Global Development is developing a design for a new form of aid called "cash on delivery," under which donors would pay for measurable progress on specific outcomes pre-agreed with recipient governments. In education, "cash on delivery" aid would accelerate progress toward universal primary education by offering a contract to poor countries for $100 per additional child completing a quality primary education, to be used as the country chooses. The objective is to assess the effectiveness of development assistance that pays for outcomes rather than inputs. This page includes research, analysis, discussion and reactions to the idea by CGD and external researchers and practitioners. Click here to return to the main page of the "cash on delivery" initiative.

New work on how to audit progress in education: Luis Crouch and Jonathan Mitchell analyze the options for the verification audit in a new background paper for CGD.

Where did this idea come from? "Cash on delivery" (or progress-based) aid was first proposed in a paper by Owen Barder and Nancy Birdsall, which makes the case that this new, less intrusive form of aid would avoid undermining recipient-country institutions, and thus better assist long-term development.

How would "cash on delivery" aid work? The full proposal (PDF, 79 KB) outlines the "cash on delivery" idea in greater detail for comments and input to a pilot and research program.

Has "cash on delivery" aid been tried before? In this note, former Program Coordinator to the President Kate Vyborny overviews a range of other incentive-based approaches in aid, explains how "cash on delivery" aid differs from them, and outlines how "cash on delivery" can learn from these experiences.

How can "cash on delivery" aid promote access to education without degrading quality? We are proposing a "cash on delivery" contract that supports access to education and improving quality, by incorporating testing of learning outcomes. Marlaine Lockheed analyzes the options for incorporating testing and quality of education into a "cash on delivery" contract between a donor and a recipient.

How could "cash on delivery" aid give incentives to improve education, not just to manipulate education data? Luis Crouch explores the challenge of overcoming gaming and cheating of "cash on delivery" aid for education in this note on how to audit the government’s report of progress.

How could the aid community evaluate and learn from a Cash on Delivery pilot? Merilee Grindle explores the methodology for the research to accompany a pilot. Michael Woolcock argues that research to assess the effects of a "cash on delivery" pilot must take into account the likely trajectory over time of impact of interventions in education--when the payoffs begin and end, and how that affects the recipient's use of the funds. Ngaire Woods and Paolo de Renzio explore the conditions that might lead to changes in how institutions behave in recipient countries, and thus to progress in education and development.

In this discussion note, Maurice Boissiere explores a number of issues "cash on delivery" would face, including whether pre-financing is needed, the data sources on enrollment and learning outcomes in low-income and post-conflict countries, and how to evaluate a pilot.

How would "cash on delivery" work in a federal system? CGD staff recently met with leaders of the Mexican Ministry of Education to discuss how "apoyo basado en resultados" could work in Mexico. Read about the discussion here.

If funding goes to recipient country budgets, how can donors be sure it is well managed? Sheila Herrling and Steve Radelet overview mechanisms to ensure good public financial management throughout recipient countries’ budgets as a part of a paper arguing for MCC to try financing through recipient budgets.

Read CGD’s answers to "frequently asked questions" about the Cash on Delivery approach.

Stay tuned for more analysis on the "audit" of results in education reported by the government, how "cash on delivery" might be applied for other sectors, and more.