Working Paper: NBER ID: w20784
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; HIV; Early Fertility; Kenya; Experimental Evidence
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 (I22) | reduced dropout rate (I21) |
| education subsidy (I22) | reduced teenage pregnancy rate (J13) |
| education subsidy (I22) | delayed entry into childbearing (J13) |
| HIV education program (I29) | no significant effect on teenage pregnancy (J13) |
| HIV education program (I29) | no significant effect on HSV2 infection rates (C92) |
| education subsidy + HIV education program (I22) | less pronounced reduction in teenage pregnancies (J13) |
| joint program (F53) | statistically significant reduction in HSV2 infections (K24) |
| HIV education program discussions on condom use (I00) | increased knowledge (D83) |
| HIV education program discussions on condom use (I00) | no significant changes in outcomes (I12) |