Barrera-Osorio, FelipeFilmer, Deon2013-09-272013-09-272013-07https://hdl.handle.net/10986/15901This paper evaluates a primary school scholarship program in Cambodia with two different targeting mechanisms, one based on poverty level and the other on baseline test scores ("merit"). Both targeting mechanisms increased enrollment and attendance. However, only the merit-based targeting induced positive effects on test scores. The paper shows that the asymmetry of response is unlikely to have been driven by differences between recipients' characteristics. Higher student and family effort among beneficiaries of the merit-based scholarships suggest that the framing of the scholarship mattered for impact. The results suggest that in order to balance equity and efficiency, a two-step targeting approach might be preferable: first, target low-income individuals, and then, among them, target based on merit.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTACADEMIC PERFORMANCEACADEMIC WORKACADEMIC YEARACHIEVEMENT TEST SCORESATTENDANCE OF CHILDRENATTENDANCE RATESCHILD DEVELOPMENTCHILD DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMSCHILD LABORCHILD LABOURCLASSROOMCLASSROOMSCOGNITIVE ACHIEVEMENTCOGNITIVE DEVELOPMENTCOHORT OF STUDENTSCOSTS OF EDUCATIONDELIVERY MECHANISMDROPOUT RATESEARLY CHILD DEVELOPMENTEARLY CHILDHOODEARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENTEARLY GRADESECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTEDUCATION MANAGEMENTEDUCATION POLICYEDUCATION SECTOREDUCATION SYSTEMSEDUCATIONAL OUTCOMESEDUCATIONAL RESEARCHEDUCATIONAL SYSTEMELEMENTARY SCHOOLELEMENTSEND OF GRADEENROLLMENTENROLLMENT RATESENROLMENTSEXAMSEXPENDITURESFEMALE SCHOOLINGGIRLSGIRLS INTO SCHOOLGRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATIONHIGH SCHOOLHIGH SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENTHIGHER ENROLLMENTHIGHER LEARNINGHOME VISITSHOMEWORKHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN DEVELOPMENTHUMAN RESOURCESINSTRUCTIONINTERVENTIONSINVESTMENT IN EDUCATIONLEARNINGLEARNING OPPORTUNITIESLEARNING OUTCOMESLITERATURELOWER SECONDARYLOWER SECONDARY SCHOOLMATH TESTMATHEMATICAL PROBLEMSMATHEMATICSMINISTRY OF EDUCATIONNATIONAL ASSESSMENTNUMBER OF SCHOOLSNUMBER OF STUDENTSOPEN ACCESSPAPERSPEDAGOGYPERFORMANCE OF STUDENTSPERSONALITYPREGNANT WOMENPRIMARY LEVELPRIMARY SCHOLARSHIPPRIMARY SCHOOLPRIMARY SCHOOL LEVELPRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTSPRIMARY SCHOOLSPRIVATE LESSONSPROBLEM SOLVINGPUBLIC SCHOOLQUALITY OF EDUCATIONREASONINGREGULAR ATTENDANCERESEARCH INSTITUTERETURNS TO EDUCATIONSCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMSCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMSSCHOLARSHIPSSCHOOL ATTENDANCESCHOOL ENROLLMENTSCHOOL ENROLMENTSSCHOOL FEEDINGSCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAMSSCHOOL FEESSCHOOL OFFICIALSSCHOOL PARTICIPATIONSCHOOL READINESSSCHOOL SYSTEMSSCHOOL YEARSCHOOL YEARSSCHOOLINGSCHOOLSSCHOOLS WITH STUDENTSSCIENCE STUDYSECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTSSKILL LEVELSSOCIAL PSYCHOLOGYSTANDARDIZED TESTSSTUDENT ACHIEVEMENTSTUDENT CHARACTERISTICSTARGETED INCENTIVESTEACHERTEACHER BEHAVIORTEACHER EXPECTATIONSTEACHER INCENTIVESTEACHER MOTIVATIONTEACHERSTEACHINGTEST SCORESTEXTBOOKSYOUTHrandomizationmerit-based targetingpoverty-based targetingWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-6541