School Costs, Short-Run Participation, and Long-Run Outcomes : Evidence from Kenya

Evans, David K. ; Ngatia, Mũthoni

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: EDUCATION;    SCHOOL BUDGET;    SCHOOL UNIFORMS;    ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT;    ENROLLMENT;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-8421
RP-ID  :  WPS8421

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Access to school has risen dramaticallyin recent decades, with large gains from reducing costs. Fewstudies report long-term impacts, however. This paperreports the impact of an educational intervention thatreduced out-of-pocket schooling costs for children in poorcommunities in Kenya by providing school uniforms. Theprogram used a lottery to determine who would receive aschool uniform. Receiving a uniform reduced schoolabsenteeism by 37 percent for the average student (7percentage points) and by 55 percent for children whoinitially had no uniform (15 percentage points). Eight yearsafter the program began, there is no evidence of sustainedimpact of the program on highest grade completed or primaryschool completion rates. A bounding exercise suggests nosubstantive positive, long-term impacts. These resultscontribute to a small literature that demonstrates the riskof fade-out of initial impacts of education investments.