Paper short abstract:

Since 2005, nearly 60% of African countries have adopted cash transfer programs -- an unprecedented expansion of the welfare benefits available to poor citizens. This paper examines whether CTP expansion is best explained by pressure from aid donors, or by domestic electoral incentives.

Paper long abstract:

Since 2005, nearly 60% of African countries have begun providing poor citizens with targeted cash transfers. This is an unprecedented expansion of the welfare state, which has historically restricted benefits to civil servants and urban elites. What explains the rapid spread of cash transfer programs (CTPs) in Africa? Standard explanations focus on pressure from aid donors and the diffusion of policy ideas from Latin America. However, this elides questions of domestic political agency, and does not fully explain cross-national variation in the timing of CTP adoption. In this paper, I use a new dataset on African CTPs to examine the correlates of program adoption.