Can Free Provision Reduce Demand for Public Services? : Evidence from Kenyan Education

Bold, Tessa ; Kimenyi, Mwangi ; Germano, Mwabu ; Sandefur, Justin

Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank

关键词: primary education;    school fees;    school enrollment;    free schools;    segregation;   

DOI  :  10.1093/wber/lht040

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

In 2003 Kenya abolished user fees in all government primary schools. We show that this policy contributed to a shift in demand away from free schools, where net enrollment stagnated after 2003, toward fee-charging private schools, where both enrollment and fee levels grew rapidly after 2003. These shifts had mixed distributional consequences. Enrollment by poorer households increased, but segregation between socio-economic groups also increased. We find evidence that the shift in demand toward private schooling was driven by more affluent households who (i) paid higher ex ante fees and thus experienced a larger reduction in school funding, and (ii) exited public schools in reaction to increased enrollment by poorer children.