Unintended Negative Consequences of Rewards for Student Attendance: Results from a Field Experiment in Indian Classrooms

Melody Chao (), Rajeev Dehejia, Anirban Mukhopadhyay and Sujata Visaria
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Melody Chao: Department of Management, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Anirban Mukhopadhyay: Department of Marketing, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Sujata Visaria: Department of Economics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Sujata Visaria and Sujata Visaria

No 2015-22, HKUST IEMS Working Paper Series from HKUST Institute for Emerging Market Studies

Abstract: In an experiment in non-formal schools in Indian slums, an incentive for attending a target number of school days increased average attendance when the incentive was in place, but had heterogeneous effects after it was removed. Among students with high baseline attendance, the post-incentive attendance returned to previous levels and test scores were unaffected. Among students with low baseline attendance, post-incentive attendance dropped even below previous levels, and test scores decreased. These students also reported lower interest in school material and lower expectations of themselves. Thus incentives might have unintended negative consequences in the long term for the very students they are most expected to help.

Keywords: educational economics; incentives; attendance; motivation; experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 I28 O53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 26 pages
Date: 2015-04, Revised 2015-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-exp and nep-hrm
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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