Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP10338
Authors: Esther Duflo; Pascaline Dupas; Michael Kremer
Abstract: A seven-year randomized evaluation suggests education subsidies reduce adolescent girls? dropout, pregnancy, and marriage but not sexually transmitted infection (STI). The government?s HIV curriculum, which stresses abstinence until marriage, does not reduce pregnancy or STI. Both programs combined reduce STI more, but cut dropout and pregnancy less, than education subsidies alone. These results are inconsistent with a model of schooling and sexual behavior in which both pregnancy and STI are determined by one factor (unprotected sex), but consistent with a two-factor model in which choices between committed and casual relationships also affect these outcomes.
Keywords: education; fertility; HIV; Kenya; pregnancy
JEL Codes: I12; I25; I38; O12
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| education subsidy program + HIV education program (I22) | complex interplay between education, relationship dynamics, and health behaviors (I24) |
| HIV education program (I29) | increased early pregnancies within marriage (J12) |
| HIV education program (I29) | reduced out-of-wedlock pregnancies (J13) |
| education subsidy program (I22) | reduced primary school dropout rates (I21) |
| education subsidy program (I22) | decreased teen pregnancy rate (J13) |
| education subsidy program (I22) | decreased pregnancies within marriage (J12) |
| education subsidy program + HIV education program (I22) | less pronounced reduction in fertility (J19) |
| education subsidy program + HIV education program (I22) | significant reduction in HSV2 infections (K24) |