Publication: School Inputs, Household Substitution, and Test Scores
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Date
2013-04
ISSN
1945-7782
Published
2013-04
Author(s)
Dercon, Stefan
Habyarimana, James
Krishnan, Pramila
Muralidharan, Karthik
Sundararaman, Venkatesh
Abstract
Empirical studies of the relationship between school inputs and test
scores typically do not account for household responses to changes
in school inputs. Evidence from India and Zambia shows that student
test scores are higher when schools receive unanticipated grants, but
there is no impact of grants that are anticipated. We show that the
most likely mechanism for this result is that households offset their
own spending in response to anticipated grants. Our results confirm
the importance of optimal household responses and suggest caution
when interpreting estimates of school inputs on learning outcomes
as parameters of an education production function.
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Cited 96 times in Scopus (View citations)