Intergenerational Impacts of Secondary Education: Experimental Evidence from Ghana

Esther Duflo, Pascaline Dupas, Elizabeth Spelke and Mark P. Walsh

No 32742, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We provide experimental evidence on the intergenerational impacts of secondary education subsidies in a low-income context, leveraging a randomized controlled trial and 15-year longitudinal follow-up. For young women, receiving a scholarship for secondary school delays childbearing and marriage, and reduces unwanted pregnancies. Female scholarship recipients are more likely to marry a partner with tertiary education and their children have better early childhood development outcomes. In particular, we document a 45% reduction in under-three mortality as well as cognitive development gains of 0.25 standard deviations of test scores once children are of school age. The primary mechanism seems to be that more-educated caregivers have the knowledge and skills to safeguard their children’s health and stimulate their cognitive development. In contrast, we find no evidence of a positive impact for the children of male scholarship recipients, who tend to marry less educated partners. Together, these results suggest a key role for maternal education in child outcomes. We also estimate the cost-benefit ratio for secondary school scholarships and find that the impact on child survival alone is sufficient to make them a highly cost-effective investment.

JEL-codes: I26 J13 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-hea and nep-ure
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Working Paper: Intergenerational Impacts of Secondary Education: Experimental Evidence from Ghana (2024)
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