This paper exploits the randomized research design of a large welfare program–PROGRESA–to study the existence in rural Mexico of spillover effects in the propensity to screen for gender- and non-gender-specific conditions. I find significant evidence of increased demand for Papanicolaou cervical-cancer screening among women ineligible for the Conditional Cash Transfer, yet no evidence of similar externalities in non-gender specific tests, such as blood-pressure and blood-sugar checks. Certain pieces of evidence are suggestive of the weakening of the social norm related to husbands’ opposition to screening of their wives as one of the possible drivers of the indirect effect.

本文利用大型福利计划PROGRESA的随机研究设计来研究墨西哥农村在筛选性别和非性别特定条件的倾向中是否存在溢出效应。我发现有重要证据表明不符合有条件现金转移支付的女性对巴氏宫颈癌筛查的需求增加，但没有证据表明在非性别特定测试（例如血压和血糖检查）中存在类似的外部性。某些证据表明，作为间接影响的可能驱动因素之一，与丈夫反对对妻子进行筛查相关的社会规范正在减弱。