The impact of Chile's school feeding program on education outcomes

Patrick McEwan

Economics of Education Review, 2013, vol. 32, issue C, 122-139

Abstract: Chile operates one of the oldest and largest school feeding programs in Latin America, targeting higher-calorie meals to relatively poorer schools. This paper evaluates the impact of higher-calorie meals on the education outcomes of public, rural schools and their students. It applies a regression-discontinuity design to administrative data, including school enrollment and attendance, first-grade enrollment age and grade repetition, and fourth-grade test scores. There is no evidence, across a range of specifications and samples, that additional calories affect these variables. The paper suggests that the focus of Chilean policy should further shift to the nutritional composition of school meals, rather than the caloric content.

Keywords: Chile; School feeding programs; Regression-discontinuity; Impact evaluation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I25 I38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:32:y:2013:i:c:p:122-139

DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2012.08.006

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