Publication: Can Free Provision Reduce Demand for Public Services? Evidence from Kenyan Education
Date
2013-11
ISSN
Published
2013-11
Author(s)
Bold, Tessa
Kimenyi, Mwangi
Mwabu, Germano
Sandefur, Justin
Abstract
In 2003 Kenya abolished user fees in all
government primary schools. Analysis of household survey
data shows this policy contributed to a shift in demand away
from free schools, where net enrollment stagnated after
2003, toward fee-charging private schools, where both
enrollment and fee levels grew rapidly after 2003. These
shifts had mixed distributional consequences. Enrollment by
poorer households increased, but segregation between
socio-economic groups also increased. The shift in demand
toward private schooling was driven by more affluent
households who (i) paid higher ex ante fees and thus
experienced a larger reduction in school funding, and (ii)
appear to have exited public schools partially in reaction
to increased enrollment by poorer children.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Bold, Tessa; Kimenyi, Mwangi; Mwabu, Germano; Sandefur, Justin. 2013. Can Free Provision Reduce Demand for Public Services? Evidence from Kenyan Education. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 6685. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16911 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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