Can Provision of Free School Uniforms harm Attendance? Evidence from Ecuador

Diana Hidalgo, Mercedes Onofa, Hessel Oosterbeek and Juan Ponce
Additional contact information
Diana Hidalgo: University of Amsterdam, and TIER
Mercedes Onofa: FLASCO-Ecuador
Juan Ponce: FLASCO-Ecuador

No 10-103/3, Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers from Tinbergen Institute

Abstract: This discussion paper resulted in an article in the Journal of Development Economics (2013). Volume 103, pages 43-51.

To raise school attendance, many programs in developing countries eliminate orreduce private contributions to education. This paper documents an unintendednegative effect of such programs. Using data from a randomized experiment thatprovides free uniforms to primary school children in Ecuador, we find that the interventionhas a significantly negative impact on attendance. An explanation is thatparents who pay for their children’s uniforms (the control group) feel more committedto the school than parents who got the uniforms for free (the treated) andtherefore encourage their children to attend school. Consistent with this sunk costeffect, we find that the impact is largest shortly after the purchase of the uniform,and during the end-of-year exam period when more is at stake.

Keywords: Uniforms; school attendance; sunk-cost effect; Ecuador (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H52 I22 I38 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-10-14
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Journal Article: Can provision of free school uniforms harm attendance? Evidence from Ecuador (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tin:wpaper:20100103

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