ABSTRACT
The first of the UN Millennium Development Goals is the reduction of global poverty by half by 2015 (Kanbur, 2005). Among the many approaches to reduce poverty, education has been shown to promote economic well-being (Bauer and Chytilová, 2010; Figlio, 2007–2008). With the globalization of technological advances, education is fundamental to economic development (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2005). The positive effect of education on the income and well-being of each individual is not questionable (Kawachi et al., 2010; UNESCO, 2005), but the question is how to increase the education levels of the entire population in order to extend the intended benefits and promote well-being to the entire nation. To this effect, countries have implemented innovative policy initiatives consisting of an array of laws and regulations aimed at achieving the goals of universal education, including conditional cash transfers.
