Policy for Closing Education Gaps across Gender and Culture: Tuition-Free Education or School Construction?

Kotaro Fujisaki
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Kotaro Fujisaki: Department of Economics, University College London, UK and Junior Research Fellow, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration (RIEB), Kobe University, JAPAN

No DP2025-16, Discussion Paper Series from Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University

Abstract: This paper examines which education policies effectively serve underrepresented groups in developing countries by distinguishing between cost/demand-side and supply-side interventions. Using a regression discontinuity design, it shows that Indonesia's Free Primary Education (FPE) program, which abolished primary school tuition fees in 1977–1978, more effectively improved historically low female educational attainment than the concurrent school construction program. These educational gains also reduced child marriage and raised future earnings among women. FPE's impact was larger in areas with greater school supply but remained effective in communi ties lacking bride price practices. Eliminating tuition fees can promote female education even in culturally low-demand settings.

Keywords: Free primary education; Indonesia; Gender; Bride price; Culture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I24 I25 I28 J16 Z13 Z18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 67 pages
Date: 2025-06
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