Wheels of Change: Transforming Girls' Lives with Bicycles

83 Pages Posted: 19 May 2022

See all articles by Nathan Fiala

Nathan Fiala

University of Connecticut - Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics

Ana Garcia-Hernandez

Universidad del Rosario

Kritika Narula

Analysis Group

Nishith Prakash

Northeastern University; Institute for the Study of Labor

Abstract

Reducing the gender gap in education is a primary goal for many countries. Two major challenges for many girls are the distance to school and their safety when commuting to school. In Zambia, we studied the impact of providing a bicycle to a school-going girl who lives more than 3 km from the school. We randomized whether a girl received a bicycle with a small cost to her family to cover replacement parts, a bicycle where these costs are covered by the program, and therefore is zero cost to the family, or a control group. One year after the intervention, we find that the bicycle reduced average commuting time to school by 35%, reduced late arrival by 66%, and decreased absenteeism by 27%. We find continued improvement in girls' attendance and reduction in dropouts two, three, and four years after the intervention. We also find evidence of improved math test scores, girls expressing higher feelings of control over their lives and, for those who received bicycles with a small cost to her family, higher levels of aspirations, self-image, and a desire to delay marriage and pregnancy. Heterogeneity analysis by distance to school shows an inverted U-shape for most of the schooling and empowerment results, suggesting greater impact for girls that live further away from school. These results suggest that empowerment outcomes worked through increased attendance in school.

Keywords: girls' education, attendance, dropout, grade transition, test scores, bicycles, female aspiration, female empowerment, safety, Zambia

JEL Classification: H42, I21, I25, J16, O15

Suggested Citation

Fiala, Nathan and Garcia-Hernandez, Ana and Narula, Kritika and Prakash, Nishith, Wheels of Change: Transforming Girls' Lives with Bicycles. IZA Discussion Paper No. 15076, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4114622 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4114622

Nathan Fiala (Contact Author)

University of Connecticut - Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics ( email )

Ana Garcia-Hernandez

Universidad del Rosario ( email )

Calle 12 No. 6-25
Bogota
Colombia

Kritika Narula

Analysis Group ( email )

Los Angeles, CA 90071
United States

Nishith Prakash

Northeastern University ( email )

220 B RP
Boston, MA 02115
United States

Institute for the Study of Labor ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

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