Working Paper: NBER ID: w26023
Authors: Rafael de Hoyos; Orazio Attanasio; Costas Meghir
Abstract: Based on an RCT, we evaluate a scholarship program in Mexico (PROBEMS) aimed at improving graduation rates and test scores among upper secondary school students from poor backgrounds. We find that, on average, the program has no impact either on graduation rates or on Math and Spanish test scores. We point to two possible reasons for this failure: a. the program was badly targeted, with many of the recipients being from less disadvantaged families than intended; b) the prior academic achievement of those eligible was often insufficient for completing successfully the academic requirements of upper secondary school. This points to accumulated achievement deficits that could be addressed by interventions targeting learning at an earlier stage.
Keywords: scholarship program; education outcomes; Mexico; poverty; high school graduation
JEL Codes: I24; I25; I28
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| prior academic achievement (I24) | scholarship program effectiveness (I24) |
| targeting issues (E61) | scholarship program effectiveness (I24) |
| scholarship program (I22) | upper secondary graduation rates (I21) |
| scholarship program (I22) | standardized test scores in math and Spanish (C12) |
| scholarship program (I22) | graduation probability for top tercile students (D29) |