The Marginal Returns to Distance Education: Evidence from Mexico’s Telesecundarias
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics · 2023 · Emilio Borghesan、Gabrielle Vasey
中文摘要
本文分析了墨西哥一项大规模、长期实施的远程教育项目。我们采用允许存在基于收益的不可观测选择（sorting）的实证框架，估计了电视中学相对于墨西哥传统中学在数学和西班牙语学习方面的边际处理效应（MTE）。估计的边际处理效应表明，学校选择并非随机；平均而言，学生仅就读电视中学一年后，数学和西班牙语成绩均出现显著提高。我们发现，现行政策降低了教育不平等，且政策相关处理效应显示，扩大电视中学规模将带来学业表现的显著改善。（JEL I21, I24, I26, I28, O15）
Abstract
This paper analyzes a large-scale and long-running distance education program in Mexico. We estimate marginal treatment effects (MTEs) for learning in math and Spanish in telesecundarias relative to traditional Mexican secondary schools using an empirical framework that allows for unobserved sorting on gains. The estimated MTEs reveal that school choice is not random and that the average student experiences significant improvements in both math and Spanish after just one year of attendance in telesecundarias. We find that the existing policy reduces educational inequality, and our policy-relevant treatment effects show that expanding telesecundarias would yield significant improvements in academic performance. (JEL I21, I24, I26, I28, O15)