Incentivizing schooling for learning: evidence on the impact of alternative targeting approaches

Felipe Barrera-Osorio, Deon P. Filmer, Felipe Barrera-Osorio and Deon P. Filmer
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Felipe Barrera-Osorio and Deon Filmer

No 6541, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: This paper evaluates a primary school scholarship program in Cambodia with two different targeting mechanisms, one based on poverty level and the other on baseline test scores ("merit"). Both targeting mechanisms increased enrollment and attendance. However, only the merit-based targeting induced positive effects on test scores. The paper shows that the asymmetry of response is unlikely to have been driven by differences between recipients'characteristics. Higher student and family effort among beneficiaries of the merit-based scholarships suggest that the framing of the scholarship mattered for impact. The results suggest that in order to balance equity and efficiency, a two-step targeting approach might be preferable: first, target low-income individuals, and then, among them, target based on merit.

Keywords: Inequality; Educational Sciences; Effective Schools and Teachers; Educational Institutions&Facilities; Services&Transfers to Poor; Economic Assistance; Access of Poor to Social Services; Disability; Economics of Education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-07-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-sea and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/24269146 ... eting-approaches.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Incentivizing Schooling for Learning: Evidence on the Impact of Alternative Targeting Approaches (2016)
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:wbk:wbrwps:6541

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20433. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Roula I. Yazigi ().