Are Public Libraries Improving Quality of Education? : When the Provision of Public Goods is Not Enough

Rodriguez Lesmes, Paul ; Trujillo, Jose Daniel ; Valderrama, Daniel

Washington, DC

关键词: SKILLS;    EVALUATION OF EDUCATION;    TEACHING FORCE;    PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS;    EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-7429
RP-ID  :  WPS7429

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper analyzes the relation betweenpublic, education-related infrastructure and the quality ofeducation in schools. The analysis uses a case study of theestablishment of two large, high-quality public libraries inlow-income areas in Bogotá, Colombia. It assesses the impactof these libraries on the quality of education by comparingnational test scores (SABER 11) for schools close to and farfrom the libraries before (2000–02) and after (2003–08) thelibraries were opened. The paper introduces a Blinder-Oaxacadecomposition on difference-in-differences estimates to assesswhether variation of traditional determinants ofmathematics, verbal, and science test scores explains theestimates. The analysis finds differences that are notstatistically different from zero that could be attributed tothe establishment of the libraries. These results are robustto alternative specifications, a synthetic control approach,and an alternative measure of distance.