Unintended Consequences of Best Intentions: Examining Spillover Effects in Targeted Supplementary Education Interventions

Yujuan Gao, Yue Ma, Conner Mullally and Scott Rozelle

No 360711, 2025 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2025, Denver, CO from Agricultural and Applied Economics Association

Abstract: This study examines spillover effects of targeted educational interventions through a field experiment in 130 rural Chinese boarding schools, comparing computer-assisted learning (CAL) and traditional workbooks. Results reveal significant negative spillovers of workbook interventions on nontarget students’ performance, particularly affecting those closely connected to targeted students. Effects intensify with increased exposure and peer interaction. The key mechanism appears motivational: Observing peers receiving supplementary workbook resources in class reduces students’ confidence in the value of their academic efforts for future careers. CAL interventions, conducted outside classrooms, show no such spillovers, highlighting the importance of considering unintended consequences in competitive, resource-limited environments.

Keywords: Institutional; and; Behavioral; Economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 65
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/360711/files/7 ... Spillover_Effect.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:aaea25:360711

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.360711

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in 2025 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2025, Denver, CO from Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().