Intergenerational Impacts of Secondary Education: Experimental Evidence from Ghana
American Economic Review · 2024 · Esther Duflo、Pascaline Dupas、Elizabeth S. Spelke、Mark Walsh
中文摘要
我们利用一项随机对照试验和15年的纵向追踪，提供了低收入背景下中学教育补贴所产生代际影响的实验证据。中学奖学金推迟了生育，减少了非意愿怀孕，并改变了伴侣选择。一岁以下儿童死亡率降低了一半。我们还发现，女性奖学金获得者的子女到五岁时，其认知发展提升幅度相当于测试分数的0.24个标准差。家计调查型中学奖学金是一项高回报投资；据保守估计，从长期来看，政府为该政策每承担1美元成本，可产生4.1美元的收益。（JEL H52, I12, I21, I26, J13, J16, O15）
Abstract
We provide experimental evidence on the intergenerational impacts of secondary education subsidies in a low-income context, leveraging a randomized controlled trial and 15-year longitudinal follow-up. Secondary school scholarships delay fertility, reduce unwanted pregnancies, and change partner selection. Under-one mortality is reduced by half. We also document cognitive development gains of 0.24 standard deviations of test scores by age five among children of female scholarship recipients. Means-tested secondary school scholarships are a high-return investment, with a conservatively estimated US$4.1 in benefits for each US$1 the policy would cost the government in the long run. (JEL H52, I12, I21, I26, J13, J16, O15)