Working Paper: NBER ID: w10713
Authors: Joshua Angrist; Eric Bettinger; Michael Kremer
Abstract: Colombia's PACES program provided over 125,000 poor children with vouchers that covered half the cost of private secondary school. The vouchers were renewable annually conditional on adequate academic progress. Since many vouchers were assigned by lottery, program effects can reliably be assessed by comparing lottery winners and losers. Estimates using administrative records suggest the PACES program increased secondary school completion rates by 15-20 percent. Correcting for the greater percentage of lottery winners taking college admissions tests, the program increased test scores by two-tenths of a standard deviation in the distribution of potential test scores. Boys, who have lower scores than girls in this population, show larger test score gains, especially in math.
Keywords: education vouchers; Colombia; high school graduation; test scores; long-term outcomes
JEL Codes: I21; J13; I28
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Paces program (I23) | increased secondary school completion rates (I21) |
| receiving a voucher (I22) | increased graduation rates (I24) |
| Paces program (I23) | increased test scores (I24) |
| vouchers (I22) | increased learning (I25) |
| Paces program (I23) | improved overall academic performance (I24) |