Work

Incentives to Learn

Year: 2004

Type: article

Abstract: We study a randomized evaluation of a merit scholarship program in which Kenyan girls who scored well on academic exams had school fees paid and received a grant. Girls showed substantial exam score gains, and teacher attendance improved in program schools. There were positive externalities for girls with low pretest scores, who were unlikely to win a scholarship. We see no evidence for weakened intrinsic motivation. There were heterogeneous program effects. In one of the two districts, there were large exam gains and positive spillovers to boys. In the other, attrition complicates estimation, but we cannot reject the hypothesis of no program effect.

Source: The Review of Economics and Statistics

DOI: 10.1037/e596142012-001

Authors: Michael Kremer, Edward Miguel, Rebecca Thornton, Owen Ozier

Institutions: Harvard University, National Bureau of Economic Research, University of California, Berkeley, World Bank, World Bank Group

Language: English

Topic: School Choice and Performance

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Quality education, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: green

Funders: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, World Bank Group