Sibling spillovers and free schooling

João Ferreira and Wayne Aaron Sandholtz

Nova SBE Working Paper Series from Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics

Abstract: We use administrative data to measure sibling spillovers on academic performance before and after the introduction of Free Secondary Education (FSE) in Tanzania. Prior to FSE, students whose older siblings narrowly passed the secondary school entrance exam were less likely to go to secondary school themselves; with FSE, the effect became positive. A triple-differences analysis, using geographic variation in FSE exposure, shows that FSE caused the reversal. Mechanism analyses suggest that changes in parental investments were a more likely channel for this reversal than direct sibling interactions. By alleviating financial constraints, FSE allowed households to distribute educational investments more equitably rather than concentrating resources on high-performing children.

Keywords: Sibling spillovers; Free secondary education; Intra-household allocation; Resource constraints; High-stakes exams; Tanzania (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 I24 I25 J13 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 87 pages
Date: 2025
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Related works:
Working Paper: Sibling Spillovers and Free Schooling (2024)
Working Paper: Free Schooling Reverses Sibling Rivalry (2024)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:unl:unlfep:wp677

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