The Impact of Free Secondary Education: Experimental Evidence from Ghana

77 Pages Posted: 30 Jun 2021

See all articles by Esther Duflo

Esther Duflo

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Department of Economics; Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD)

Pascaline Dupas

Stanford University

Michael Kremer

University of Chicago

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: June 25, 2021

Abstract

Following the widespread adoption of free primary education, African policymakers are now considering making secondary school free, but little is known about the private and social benefits of free secondary education. We exploit randomized assignment to secondary school scholarships among 2,064 youths in Ghana, combined with 12 years of data, to establish that scholarships increase educational attainment, knowledge, skills, and preventative health behaviors, while reducing female fertility. Eleven years after receipt of the scholarship, only female winners show private labor market gains, but those come primarily in the form of better access to jobs with rents (in particular rationed jobs in the public sector). We develop a simple model to interpret the labor market results and help think through the welfare impact of free secondary education.

JEL Classification: H52,I26,O12

Suggested Citation

Duflo, Esther and Dupas, Pascaline and Kremer, Michael, The Impact of Free Secondary Education: Experimental Evidence from Ghana (June 25, 2021). University of Chicago, Becker Friedman Institute for Economics Working Paper No. 2021-73, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3874078 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3874078

Esther Duflo

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Department of Economics ( email )

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Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) ( email )

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United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.povertyactionlab.org/

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD) ( email )

Duke University
Durham, NC 90097
United States

Pascaline Dupas

Stanford University ( email )

Stanford, CA 94305
United States

Michael Kremer (Contact Author)

University of Chicago

1101 East 58th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
United States

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