Long-Term Consequences of Secondary School Vouchers: Evidence from Administrative Records in Colombia

Joshua Angrist (), Eric P. Bettinger () and Michael Kremer ()

No 10713, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Colombia's PACES program provided over 125,000 poor children with vouchers that covered half the cost of private secondary school. The vouchers were renewable annually conditional on adequate academic progress. Since many vouchers were assigned by lottery, program effects can reliably be assessed by comparing lottery winners and losers. Estimates using administrative records suggest the PACES program increased secondary school completion rates by 15-20 percent. Correcting for the greater percentage of lottery winners taking college admissions tests, the program increased test scores by two-tenths of a standard deviation in the distribution of potential test scores. Boys, who have lower scores than girls in this population, show larger test score gains, especially in math.

JEL-codes: I21 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ure
Date: 2004-08
Note: ED CH
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Working Paper: Long-Term Consequences of Secondary School Vouchers: Evidence from Administrative Records in Colombia (2004)
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