SlideShare a Scribd company logo

06.20.2013 - Nishith Prakash

•
•
A
AMDSeminarSeries

Cycling to School: Increasing Secondary School Enrollment for Girls in India

Education
1 of 154
Download to read offline
Cycling to School: Increasing Secondary School Enrollment for Girls in India Karthik Muralidharan 1 Nishith Prakash 2 1University of California-San Diego, NBER, J-PAL, BREAD 2University of Connecticut, IZA, CReAM June 20, 2013 / IFPRI Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 1 / 59
Motivation “Investment in girls’ education may well be the highest-return investment available in the developing world.”- Lawrence H. Summers (former Chief Economist of the World Bank) “I think the bicycle has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.”- Susan B. Anthony (19th century leader of US women’s suffrage movement) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 2 / 59
Motivation “Investment in girls’ education may well be the highest-return investment available in the developing world.”- Lawrence H. Summers (former Chief Economist of the World Bank) “I think the bicycle has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.”- Susan B. Anthony (19th century leader of US women’s suffrage movement) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 2 / 59
Motivation Increasing school attainment of girls is one of the Millennium Development Goals Bridging the gender gap in education is an important policy question Improving female education directly contributes to “Inclusive Growth”: Growth - by increasing human capital of labor force Inclusive - by allowing people to participate in the growth process Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 3 / 59
Motivation Increasing school attainment of girls is one of the Millennium Development Goals Bridging the gender gap in education is an important policy question Improving female education directly contributes to “Inclusive Growth”: Growth - by increasing human capital of labor force Inclusive - by allowing people to participate in the growth process Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 3 / 59
Motivation Increasing school attainment of girls is one of the Millennium Development Goals Bridging the gender gap in education is an important policy question Improving female education directly contributes to “Inclusive Growth”: Growth - by increasing human capital of labor force Inclusive - by allowing people to participate in the growth process Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 3 / 59
Status of Education in India Larger gender gaps in India (and especially in Bihar) in school attendance (grows with age) Primary schools now exist within 1 km of most villages But distance is still an important barrier to secondary school attendance (again, more so for girls) Bihar was among the lowest mean levels of education (IHDS 2005) Girls/Boys enrollment ratio in Bihar (2007-08): 93% in Class 1 80% in Class 5 69% in Class 8 62% in Class 9 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 4 / 59
Status of Education in India Larger gender gaps in India (and especially in Bihar) in school attendance (grows with age) Primary schools now exist within 1 km of most villages But distance is still an important barrier to secondary school attendance (again, more so for girls) Bihar was among the lowest mean levels of education (IHDS 2005) Girls/Boys enrollment ratio in Bihar (2007-08): 93% in Class 1 80% in Class 5 69% in Class 8 62% in Class 9 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 4 / 59
Status of Education in India Larger gender gaps in India (and especially in Bihar) in school attendance (grows with age) Primary schools now exist within 1 km of most villages But distance is still an important barrier to secondary school attendance (again, more so for girls) Bihar was among the lowest mean levels of education (IHDS 2005) Girls/Boys enrollment ratio in Bihar (2007-08): 93% in Class 1 80% in Class 5 69% in Class 8 62% in Class 9 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 4 / 59
School Enrollment by Age & Gender Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 5 / 59
Enrollment of 14-15 year olds in Secondary School by Distance & Gender Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 6 / 59
Summary Gender gap in educational attainment is more pronounced in Bihar relative to the all India figures The drop off in girls’ enrollment is particularly pronounced at age 14, which is the time of transition to secondary schooling The probability of 14 and 15 year olds being enrolled in school steadily declines as the distance to the nearest secondary school increases both in the all India data as well as in Bihar Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 7 / 59
Summary Gender gap in educational attainment is more pronounced in Bihar relative to the all India figures The drop off in girls’ enrollment is particularly pronounced at age 14, which is the time of transition to secondary schooling The probability of 14 and 15 year olds being enrolled in school steadily declines as the distance to the nearest secondary school increases both in the all India data as well as in Bihar Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 7 / 59
Summary Gender gap in educational attainment is more pronounced in Bihar relative to the all India figures The drop off in girls’ enrollment is particularly pronounced at age 14, which is the time of transition to secondary schooling The probability of 14 and 15 year olds being enrolled in school steadily declines as the distance to the nearest secondary school increases both in the all India data as well as in Bihar Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 7 / 59
School Access vs. Scale in India The default approach to school access is in terms of school construction Ongoing national campaign to expand access to secondary schooling via school construction and expansion (RSMA) Expensive Takes time to build new schools There exists trade-off between access and scale Secondary School Access vs. scale trade-off of first order concern here! Requires qualified and specialized teachers Not obvious if improving school access should always take the form of school construction Need to think of cost-effective scalable policy to improve access to secondary education Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 8 / 59
School Access vs. Scale in India The default approach to school access is in terms of school construction Ongoing national campaign to expand access to secondary schooling via school construction and expansion (RSMA) Expensive Takes time to build new schools There exists trade-off between access and scale Secondary School Access vs. scale trade-off of first order concern here! Requires qualified and specialized teachers Not obvious if improving school access should always take the form of school construction Need to think of cost-effective scalable policy to improve access to secondary education Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 8 / 59
School Access vs. Scale in India The default approach to school access is in terms of school construction Ongoing national campaign to expand access to secondary schooling via school construction and expansion (RSMA) Expensive Takes time to build new schools There exists trade-off between access and scale Secondary School Access vs. scale trade-off of first order concern here! Requires qualified and specialized teachers Not obvious if improving school access should always take the form of school construction Need to think of cost-effective scalable policy to improve access to secondary education Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 8 / 59
School Access vs. Scale in India The default approach to school access is in terms of school construction Ongoing national campaign to expand access to secondary schooling via school construction and expansion (RSMA) Expensive Takes time to build new schools There exists trade-off between access and scale Secondary School Access vs. scale trade-off of first order concern here! Requires qualified and specialized teachers Not obvious if improving school access should always take the form of school construction Need to think of cost-effective scalable policy to improve access to secondary education Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 8 / 59
School Access vs. Scale in India The default approach to school access is in terms of school construction Ongoing national campaign to expand access to secondary schooling via school construction and expansion (RSMA) Expensive Takes time to build new schools There exists trade-off between access and scale Secondary School Access vs. scale trade-off of first order concern here! Requires qualified and specialized teachers Not obvious if improving school access should always take the form of school construction Need to think of cost-effective scalable policy to improve access to secondary education Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 8 / 59
School Access vs. Scale in India The default approach to school access is in terms of school construction Ongoing national campaign to expand access to secondary schooling via school construction and expansion (RSMA) Expensive Takes time to build new schools There exists trade-off between access and scale Secondary School Access vs. scale trade-off of first order concern here! Requires qualified and specialized teachers Not obvious if improving school access should always take the form of school construction Need to think of cost-effective scalable policy to improve access to secondary education Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 8 / 59
School Access vs. Scale in India The default approach to school access is in terms of school construction Ongoing national campaign to expand access to secondary schooling via school construction and expansion (RSMA) Expensive Takes time to build new schools There exists trade-off between access and scale Secondary School Access vs. scale trade-off of first order concern here! Requires qualified and specialized teachers Not obvious if improving school access should always take the form of school construction Need to think of cost-effective scalable policy to improve access to secondary education Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 8 / 59
Policy Intervention In 2006, the Govt. of Bihar initiated a program to provide cycles to all girls studying in grade 9 Personal initiative of the Chief Minister Program was called the “Cycle Program” An allocation of Rs. 2000/student was made (now Rs. 2500, ≈ $46) High-profile program, politically very visible (and also copied) No direct provision of cycles–cash provided to eligible students through the schools, and receipts for purchase of cycles were collected (not a typical CCT that goes to HH budget) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 9 / 59
Policy Intervention In 2006, the Govt. of Bihar initiated a program to provide cycles to all girls studying in grade 9 Personal initiative of the Chief Minister Program was called the “Cycle Program” An allocation of Rs. 2000/student was made (now Rs. 2500, ≈ $46) High-profile program, politically very visible (and also copied) No direct provision of cycles–cash provided to eligible students through the schools, and receipts for purchase of cycles were collected (not a typical CCT that goes to HH budget) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 9 / 59
Policy Intervention Unique hybrid of demand and supply-sided intervention Enrollment conditionality resembles a traditional CCT But cycles improve school access by reducing the distance cost of attendance (also allows economies of scale in school quality) This was effectively a CKT program and was one of India’s first scaled up CT program for girls’ secondary education Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 10 / 59
Policy Intervention Unique hybrid of demand and supply-sided intervention Enrollment conditionality resembles a traditional CCT But cycles improve school access by reducing the distance cost of attendance (also allows economies of scale in school quality) This was effectively a CKT program and was one of India’s first scaled up CT program for girls’ secondary education Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 10 / 59
Policy in Action Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 11 / 59
Policy in Action Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 12 / 59
Interview with School Principal Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 13 / 59
Research Questions What is the impact of exposure to cycle program on secondary school enrollment for girls? Disentangle the mechanisms through which policy affects outcomes (conditionality vs. cycle)? What are the impacts on learning outcomes? Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 14 / 59
Research Questions What is the impact of exposure to cycle program on secondary school enrollment for girls? Disentangle the mechanisms through which policy affects outcomes (conditionality vs. cycle)? What are the impacts on learning outcomes? Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 14 / 59
Research Questions What is the impact of exposure to cycle program on secondary school enrollment for girls? Disentangle the mechanisms through which policy affects outcomes (conditionality vs. cycle)? What are the impacts on learning outcomes? Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 14 / 59
Preview of Main Results Cycle program increased the age-appropriate secondary school enrollment of girls by 5.2 percentage points Most of the treatment effect appears to be coming from villages where the nearest secondary school is more than 3 km away The triple difference non-parametric plot as a function of distance to the nearest secondary school has an inverted-U shape The program had a modest positive impact on percentage of girls’ appearing for grade 10 exam The program had no impact on percentage of girls’ passing grade 10 exam Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 15 / 59
Preview of Main Results Cycle program increased the age-appropriate secondary school enrollment of girls by 5.2 percentage points Most of the treatment effect appears to be coming from villages where the nearest secondary school is more than 3 km away The triple difference non-parametric plot as a function of distance to the nearest secondary school has an inverted-U shape The program had a modest positive impact on percentage of girls’ appearing for grade 10 exam The program had no impact on percentage of girls’ passing grade 10 exam Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 15 / 59
Preview of Main Results Cycle program increased the age-appropriate secondary school enrollment of girls by 5.2 percentage points Most of the treatment effect appears to be coming from villages where the nearest secondary school is more than 3 km away The triple difference non-parametric plot as a function of distance to the nearest secondary school has an inverted-U shape The program had a modest positive impact on percentage of girls’ appearing for grade 10 exam The program had no impact on percentage of girls’ passing grade 10 exam Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 15 / 59
Preview of Main Results Cycle program increased the age-appropriate secondary school enrollment of girls by 5.2 percentage points Most of the treatment effect appears to be coming from villages where the nearest secondary school is more than 3 km away The triple difference non-parametric plot as a function of distance to the nearest secondary school has an inverted-U shape The program had a modest positive impact on percentage of girls’ appearing for grade 10 exam The program had no impact on percentage of girls’ passing grade 10 exam Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 15 / 59
Preview of Main Results Cycle program increased the age-appropriate secondary school enrollment of girls by 5.2 percentage points Most of the treatment effect appears to be coming from villages where the nearest secondary school is more than 3 km away The triple difference non-parametric plot as a function of distance to the nearest secondary school has an inverted-U shape The program had a modest positive impact on percentage of girls’ appearing for grade 10 exam The program had no impact on percentage of girls’ passing grade 10 exam Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 15 / 59
Contributions and Policy Implication Rigorously evaluates the effectiveness of one of India’s first scaled up CCT/CKT program for girls’ secondary education Answers the question of whether ‘distance cost’ reduces gender gap in enrollment and attainment Relevant not just for India but other developing countries This paper also makes a methodological contribution to the program evaluation literature by demonstrating the feasibility of credible impact evaluations even in contexts of universal program roll out Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 16 / 59
Contributions and Policy Implication Rigorously evaluates the effectiveness of one of India’s first scaled up CCT/CKT program for girls’ secondary education Answers the question of whether ‘distance cost’ reduces gender gap in enrollment and attainment Relevant not just for India but other developing countries This paper also makes a methodological contribution to the program evaluation literature by demonstrating the feasibility of credible impact evaluations even in contexts of universal program roll out Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 16 / 59
Contributions and Policy Implication Rigorously evaluates the effectiveness of one of India’s first scaled up CCT/CKT program for girls’ secondary education Answers the question of whether ‘distance cost’ reduces gender gap in enrollment and attainment Relevant not just for India but other developing countries This paper also makes a methodological contribution to the program evaluation literature by demonstrating the feasibility of credible impact evaluations even in contexts of universal program roll out Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 16 / 59
Contributions and Policy Implication Rigorously evaluates the effectiveness of one of India’s first scaled up CCT/CKT program for girls’ secondary education Answers the question of whether ‘distance cost’ reduces gender gap in enrollment and attainment Relevant not just for India but other developing countries This paper also makes a methodological contribution to the program evaluation literature by demonstrating the feasibility of credible impact evaluations even in contexts of universal program roll out Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 16 / 59
Brief Related Literature School Access: Impact of school construction programs have found positive effects on enrollment (Duflo 2001, Burde and Linden 2012, Kazianga et al. 2012) Access to roads increases enrollment (Mukherjee 2011) Trade-off between access and scale (Muralidharan et al. 2013, Jacob, Kochar, and Reddy 2008, De Haan, Leuven, and Osterbeek 2011) Conditional Transfers: CCT programs have found a positive impact on girls’ education enrollment and attainment (Fiszbein and Schady 2009) Methodological: Bleakley (2007), Hornbeck (2010), Duflo (2001), Jayachandran & Lleras-Muney (2008) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 17 / 59
Brief Related Literature School Access: Impact of school construction programs have found positive effects on enrollment (Duflo 2001, Burde and Linden 2012, Kazianga et al. 2012) Access to roads increases enrollment (Mukherjee 2011) Trade-off between access and scale (Muralidharan et al. 2013, Jacob, Kochar, and Reddy 2008, De Haan, Leuven, and Osterbeek 2011) Conditional Transfers: CCT programs have found a positive impact on girls’ education enrollment and attainment (Fiszbein and Schady 2009) Methodological: Bleakley (2007), Hornbeck (2010), Duflo (2001), Jayachandran & Lleras-Muney (2008) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 17 / 59
Brief Related Literature School Access: Impact of school construction programs have found positive effects on enrollment (Duflo 2001, Burde and Linden 2012, Kazianga et al. 2012) Access to roads increases enrollment (Mukherjee 2011) Trade-off between access and scale (Muralidharan et al. 2013, Jacob, Kochar, and Reddy 2008, De Haan, Leuven, and Osterbeek 2011) Conditional Transfers: CCT programs have found a positive impact on girls’ education enrollment and attainment (Fiszbein and Schady 2009) Methodological: Bleakley (2007), Hornbeck (2010), Duflo (2001), Jayachandran & Lleras-Muney (2008) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 17 / 59
Outline of Today’s Talk Data & Outcome Measures Identification and Empirical Framework Main Findings Robustness Checks Discussion Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 18 / 59
Data Sources District-Level Health Survey (DLHS) Data 2008 Survey conducted ≈1.5 years after Cycle program launched Representative sample of approximately 1,000 HH/district (total sample of close to 50,000 HH across Bihar/Jharkhand) Family roster with education histories Village data includes distance to nearest secondary school We also collect official data on student learning outcomes using appearance/passing on 10th grade board exam Also collect official school enrollment data (for testing trends only) ASER 2008 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 19 / 59
Data Sources District-Level Health Survey (DLHS) Data 2008 Survey conducted ≈1.5 years after Cycle program launched Representative sample of approximately 1,000 HH/district (total sample of close to 50,000 HH across Bihar/Jharkhand) Family roster with education histories Village data includes distance to nearest secondary school We also collect official data on student learning outcomes using appearance/passing on 10th grade board exam Also collect official school enrollment data (for testing trends only) ASER 2008 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 19 / 59
Data Sources District-Level Health Survey (DLHS) Data 2008 Survey conducted ≈1.5 years after Cycle program launched Representative sample of approximately 1,000 HH/district (total sample of close to 50,000 HH across Bihar/Jharkhand) Family roster with education histories Village data includes distance to nearest secondary school We also collect official data on student learning outcomes using appearance/passing on 10th grade board exam Also collect official school enrollment data (for testing trends only) ASER 2008 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 19 / 59
Outcome Measures Enrollment outcome Dummy variable if a student is enrolled in or completed grade 9 Learning outcomes: grade 10 performance Log of number of students appearing for grade 10 exam (aggregate at school level) Log of number of students who passed grade 10 exam (aggregate at school level) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 20 / 59
Empirical Challenges Identification: Main challenge for the empirical analysis is that the program was implemented state-wide and so it is difficult to find a control group The program was launched across the full state of Bihar at a time of high growth, improving law and order, and plausibly increasing rates of return to education Address this by employing triple difference Risk of over-reporting of girls’ enrollment in administrative data in response to the Cycle program: Use large household data to mitigate this risk Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 21 / 59
Empirical Challenges Identification: Main challenge for the empirical analysis is that the program was implemented state-wide and so it is difficult to find a control group The program was launched across the full state of Bihar at a time of high growth, improving law and order, and plausibly increasing rates of return to education Address this by employing triple difference Risk of over-reporting of girls’ enrollment in administrative data in response to the Cycle program: Use large household data to mitigate this risk Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 21 / 59
Empirical Challenges Identification: Main challenge for the empirical analysis is that the program was implemented state-wide and so it is difficult to find a control group The program was launched across the full state of Bihar at a time of high growth, improving law and order, and plausibly increasing rates of return to education Address this by employing triple difference Risk of over-reporting of girls’ enrollment in administrative data in response to the Cycle program: Use large household data to mitigate this risk Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 21 / 59
Empirical Challenges Identification: Main challenge for the empirical analysis is that the program was implemented state-wide and so it is difficult to find a control group The program was launched across the full state of Bihar at a time of high growth, improving law and order, and plausibly increasing rates of return to education Address this by employing triple difference Risk of over-reporting of girls’ enrollment in administrative data in response to the Cycle program: Use large household data to mitigate this risk Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 21 / 59
Empirical Challenges Identification: Main challenge for the empirical analysis is that the program was implemented state-wide and so it is difficult to find a control group The program was launched across the full state of Bihar at a time of high growth, improving law and order, and plausibly increasing rates of return to education Address this by employing triple difference Risk of over-reporting of girls’ enrollment in administrative data in response to the Cycle program: Use large household data to mitigate this risk Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 21 / 59
Empirical Challenges Identification: Main challenge for the empirical analysis is that the program was implemented state-wide and so it is difficult to find a control group The program was launched across the full state of Bihar at a time of high growth, improving law and order, and plausibly increasing rates of return to education Address this by employing triple difference Risk of over-reporting of girls’ enrollment in administrative data in response to the Cycle program: Use large household data to mitigate this risk Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 21 / 59
Difference in Difference We treat 14-15 year olds as ‘treated’ cohorts (exposed to the program) and 16-17 year olds as ‘control’ cohorts (not exposed to the program) – [as in Duflo 2001] 14-15 vs.16-17 year old girls (first difference) Compare with corresponding difference for boys (second difference) Boys are exposed to similar changes in Bihar but are NOT eligible for the cycle program (for e.g. increasing household incomes and increased public investment in education) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 22 / 59
Difference in Difference We treat 14-15 year olds as ‘treated’ cohorts (exposed to the program) and 16-17 year olds as ‘control’ cohorts (not exposed to the program) – [as in Duflo 2001] 14-15 vs.16-17 year old girls (first difference) Compare with corresponding difference for boys (second difference) Boys are exposed to similar changes in Bihar but are NOT eligible for the cycle program (for e.g. increasing household incomes and increased public investment in education) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 22 / 59
Difference in Difference We treat 14-15 year olds as ‘treated’ cohorts (exposed to the program) and 16-17 year olds as ‘control’ cohorts (not exposed to the program) – [as in Duflo 2001] 14-15 vs.16-17 year old girls (first difference) Compare with corresponding difference for boys (second difference) Boys are exposed to similar changes in Bihar but are NOT eligible for the cycle program (for e.g. increasing household incomes and increased public investment in education) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 22 / 59
Difference in Difference We treat 14-15 year olds as ‘treated’ cohorts (exposed to the program) and 16-17 year olds as ‘control’ cohorts (not exposed to the program) – [as in Duflo 2001] 14-15 vs.16-17 year old girls (first difference) Compare with corresponding difference for boys (second difference) Boys are exposed to similar changes in Bihar but are NOT eligible for the cycle program (for e.g. increasing household incomes and increased public investment in education) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 22 / 59
Estimating Equation yihv = β0 + β1Female dummyihv ∗ Treatihv + β2Female dummyihv + β3Treatihv + γX + eihv (1) where yihv is the outcome variable of interest corresponding to child i, in household h and village v X = control variables (social groups, religion, household level characteristics, and village level characteristics) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 23 / 59
Descriptive Statistics Full Sample Bihar Jharkhand PANEL A: Dependent variable Enrolled in or completed grade 9 (Among 14-17 year olds) 0.378 0.309 0.337 (0.485) (0.462) (0.473) PANEL B: Key independent variables Treatment group = Child age 14 & 15 (Among 14-17 year olds) 0.545 0.543 0.586 (0.498) (0.498) (0.493) Female dummy 0.476 0.485 0.473 (0.499) (0.500) (0.499) PANEL C: Demographic controls Social group: Scheduled caste 0.191 0.190 0.136 (0.393) (0.393) (0.343) Social group: Scheduled tribes 0.075 0.022 0.361 (0.263) (0.145) (0.480) Social group: Other backward caste 0.547 0.588 0.423 (0.498) (0.492) (0.494) Social group: Hindu 0.814 0.846 0.646 (0.389) (0.361) (0.478) Social group: Muslim 0.142 0.151 0.118 (0.349) (0.358) (0.323) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 24 / 59
Difference in Difference Estimate for the Exposure of Cycle Program on Girl’s Enrollment Dependent variable=Enrolled in or completed grade 9 (1) (2) (3) (4) Treat×Female dummy 0.123*** 0.114*** 0.0908*** 0.0904*** (0.0149) (0.0144) (0.0135) (0.0134) Treat -0.192*** -0.184*** -0.167*** -0.166*** (0.0108) (0.0106) (0.00992) (0.00992) Female dummy -0.186*** -0.178*** -0.168*** -0.167*** (0.0117) (0.0112) (0.0103) (0.0103) Constant 0.475*** 0.823*** 0.487*** 0.502*** (0.00980) (0.0831) (0.0622) (0.0673) Demographic controls NO YES YES YES HH level and literacy controls NO NO YES YES Village level controls NO NO NO YES Observations 18,453 18,453 18,353 18,331 R-squared 0.038 0.106 0.225 0.227 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 25 / 59
Parallel Trend Assumption for Difference in Difference Treating the double-difference estimate as causal requires that there were parallel trends in boys and girls enrollment prior to the program Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 26 / 59
Do Parallel Trends Hold? We reject the parallel trend assumption Half of the increase in enrollment would have happened anyway! Grade 9 Dependent variable=Log(Enrollment) School Level (1) Female Dummy×Year 0.0518*** (0.00476) Female Dummy -0.870*** (0.0631) Pre Year 0.0852*** (0.00539) Constant 4.235*** (0.0492) Observations 20,266 R-squared 0.167 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 27 / 59
Parallel Trend Assumption for Triple Difference We compare the double difference estimate in the state of Bihar (the treated state), with the same estimate for the state of Jharkhand (the control state), which is a neighboring state which was a part of the state of Bihar till recently, and only separated administratively in 2001 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 28 / 59
Do Parallel Trends Hold? Fail to reject the parallel trend assumption Grade 9 Dependent variable=Log(Enrollment) School Level (1) Female Dummy×Year×Bihar dummy -0.0100 (0.0120) Female Dummy×Year 0.0618*** (0.0111) Female Dummy×Bihar dummy 0.175 (0.110) Bihar dummy×Year 0.0290** (0.0129) Female dummy -1.045*** (0.0900) Time trend 0.0562*** (0.0117) Bihar dummy -0.123 (0.118) Constant 4.358*** (0.108) Observations 22,279 R-squared 0.171 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 29 / 59
Triple Difference Compare double difference across Bihar & Jharkhand (triple difference) The triple difference is our preferred estimate of program impact Estimating equation: yihv = β0 + β1Treatihv ∗ Female dummyihv ∗ Bihar + β2Treatihv ∗ Female dummyihv + β3Treatihv ∗ Bihar + β4Female dummyihv ∗ Bihar + β5Treatihv + β6Female dummyihv + β7Bihar + γX + eihv (2) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 30 / 59
Triple Difference Estimate for the Exposure of Cycle Program on Girl’s Enrollment Dependent variable=Enrolled in or completed grade 9 (1) (2) (3) (4) Treat×Female dummy×Bihar dummy 0.103*** 0.0912*** 0.0525** 0.0523** (0.0302) (0.0294) (0.0252) (0.0253) Treat×Female dummy 0.0195 0.0235 0.0380* 0.0381* (0.0263) (0.0256) (0.0214) (0.0215) Treat×Bihar dummy -0.0437** -0.0418** -0.0290* -0.0281* (0.0179) (0.0177) (0.0160) (0.0161) Female dummy×Bihar dummy -0.0942*** -0.0905*** -0.0686*** -0.0673*** (0.0233) (0.0226) (0.0200) (0.0201) Treat -0.148*** -0.143*** -0.138*** -0.138*** (0.0143) (0.0142) (0.0127) (0.0127) Female dummy -0.0915*** -0.0880*** -0.0986*** -0.0994*** (0.0202) (0.0196) (0.0172) (0.0172) Bihar dummy 0.0115 -0.0437*** -0.0247* -0.0378** (0.0163) (0.0165) (0.0146) (0.0148) Demographic controls NO YES YES YES HH level and literacy controls NO NO YES YES Village level controls NO NO NO YES Constant 0.464*** 0.771*** 0.503*** 0.463*** (0.0130) (0.0240) (0.0240) (0.0393) Observations 30,295 30,295 30,147 30,112 R-squared 0.035 0.088 0.208 0.210 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 31 / 59
Summary of Results Exposure to the Cycle program increased the age-appropriate secondary school enrollment of girls by 5.2 percentage points (or 40% increase on a base of 13%) The age-appropriate secondary school enrollment rate for boys was 26 percent Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 32 / 59
Summary of Results Exposure to the Cycle program increased the age-appropriate secondary school enrollment of girls by 5.2 percentage points (or 40% increase on a base of 13%) The age-appropriate secondary school enrollment rate for boys was 26 percent Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 32 / 59
Mechanisms Even if we find an effect, there may be multiple mechanisms Conditionality, cycle, third factors (other programs, returns) If the channel of impact is that the cycle reduces the ‘distance cost’ of attending school, then we should see a larger impact in villages where the nearest secondary school is further away (data lets us test this) Compare triple difference by whether a village was above/below median distance to school (quadruple difference) Plot triple-difference by distance (non-parametric) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 33 / 59
Mechanisms Even if we find an effect, there may be multiple mechanisms Conditionality, cycle, third factors (other programs, returns) If the channel of impact is that the cycle reduces the ‘distance cost’ of attending school, then we should see a larger impact in villages where the nearest secondary school is further away (data lets us test this) Compare triple difference by whether a village was above/below median distance to school (quadruple difference) Plot triple-difference by distance (non-parametric) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 33 / 59
Mechanisms Even if we find an effect, there may be multiple mechanisms Conditionality, cycle, third factors (other programs, returns) If the channel of impact is that the cycle reduces the ‘distance cost’ of attending school, then we should see a larger impact in villages where the nearest secondary school is further away (data lets us test this) Compare triple difference by whether a village was above/below median distance to school (quadruple difference) Plot triple-difference by distance (non-parametric) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 33 / 59
Mechanisms Even if we find an effect, there may be multiple mechanisms Conditionality, cycle, third factors (other programs, returns) If the channel of impact is that the cycle reduces the ‘distance cost’ of attending school, then we should see a larger impact in villages where the nearest secondary school is further away (data lets us test this) Compare triple difference by whether a village was above/below median distance to school (quadruple difference) Plot triple-difference by distance (non-parametric) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 33 / 59
Sketch of Mechanism of Impact Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 34 / 59
Prediction Returns to secondary school does not vary by distance but cost does This suggests maximum impact at the ‘intermediate’ range of distance to school Predicts an inverted U-shaped from a model where the cycle reduces costs of schooling proportional to the distance to school (but where the absolute cost of attendance is still too high to attend at very large distances) Low impact at short and long distances Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 35 / 59
Prediction Returns to secondary school does not vary by distance but cost does This suggests maximum impact at the ‘intermediate’ range of distance to school Predicts an inverted U-shaped from a model where the cycle reduces costs of schooling proportional to the distance to school (but where the absolute cost of attendance is still too high to attend at very large distances) Low impact at short and long distances Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 35 / 59
Prediction Returns to secondary school does not vary by distance but cost does This suggests maximum impact at the ‘intermediate’ range of distance to school Predicts an inverted U-shaped from a model where the cycle reduces costs of schooling proportional to the distance to school (but where the absolute cost of attendance is still too high to attend at very large distances) Low impact at short and long distances Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 35 / 59
Distribution of Villages by Distance to Nearest Secondary School 0.05.1.15.2 Density 0 5 10 15 20 25 Distance to Secondary School (KM) Bihar 0.1.2.3 Density 0 5 10 15 20 25 Distance to Secondary School (KM) Population Weighted Bihar 0.05.1.15 Density 0 5 10 15 20 25 Distance to Secondary School (KM) Jharkhand 0.05.1.15 Density 0 5 10 15 20 25 Distance to Secondary School (KM) Population Weighted Jharkhand Figure 2: Distribution of Villages by Distance to Nearest Secondary School Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 36 / 59
Quadruple Difference: The Impact of Distance to Secondary School on Girl’s Enrollment Dependent variable=Enrolled in or completed grade 9 (1) (2) (3) (4) Treat×Female dummy×Bihar dummy×Long distance 0.0940 0.0875 0.0898* 0.0882* (0.0578) (0.0560) (0.0503) (0.0502) Treat×Female dummy×Long distance -0.0788 -0.0803* -0.0745* -0.0733* (0.0496) (0.0480) (0.0427) (0.0426) Treat×Female dummy×Bihar dummy 0.0426 0.0338 -0.00504 -0.00420 (0.0410) (0.0394) (0.0376) (0.0376) Female dummy×Bihar dummy×Long distance -0.0826* -0.0746* -0.0698* -0.0695* (0.0450) (0.0433) (0.0393) (0.0391) Treat×Bihar dummy×Long distance -0.0285 -0.0254 -0.00856 -0.00790 (0.0363) (0.0356) (0.0328) (0.0328) Demographic controls NO YES YES YES HH level and literacy controls NO NO YES YES Village level controls NO NO NO YES Constant 0.513*** 0.816*** 0.530*** 0.487*** (0.0228) (0.0279) (0.0271) (0.0410) Observations 30295 30295 30147 30112 R-squared 0.039 0.091 0.209 0.210 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 37 / 59
Non-Parametric DD by Distance Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 38 / 59
Non-Parametric DDD by Distance Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 39 / 59
What did we Learn? Important to have state level controls as parallel trend is rejected Considerable catching up at all distances in Bihar Positive DD estimates in Jharkhand at all distances ⇒ girls’ age-appropriate secondary school enrollment catching up If there is generic catching up ⇒ more likely to happen more when secondary schools close by DD estimate insignificant at most distance above 5 km Not much going on the conditionality side The conditionality should have an impact at every distance Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 40 / 59
What did we Learn? Important to have state level controls as parallel trend is rejected Considerable catching up at all distances in Bihar Positive DD estimates in Jharkhand at all distances ⇒ girls’ age-appropriate secondary school enrollment catching up If there is generic catching up ⇒ more likely to happen more when secondary schools close by DD estimate insignificant at most distance above 5 km Not much going on the conditionality side The conditionality should have an impact at every distance Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 40 / 59
What did we Learn? Important to have state level controls as parallel trend is rejected Considerable catching up at all distances in Bihar Positive DD estimates in Jharkhand at all distances ⇒ girls’ age-appropriate secondary school enrollment catching up If there is generic catching up ⇒ more likely to happen more when secondary schools close by DD estimate insignificant at most distance above 5 km Not much going on the conditionality side The conditionality should have an impact at every distance Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 40 / 59
What did we Learn? Important to have state level controls as parallel trend is rejected Considerable catching up at all distances in Bihar Positive DD estimates in Jharkhand at all distances ⇒ girls’ age-appropriate secondary school enrollment catching up If there is generic catching up ⇒ more likely to happen more when secondary schools close by DD estimate insignificant at most distance above 5 km Not much going on the conditionality side The conditionality should have an impact at every distance Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 40 / 59
What did we Learn? Important to have state level controls as parallel trend is rejected Considerable catching up at all distances in Bihar Positive DD estimates in Jharkhand at all distances ⇒ girls’ age-appropriate secondary school enrollment catching up If there is generic catching up ⇒ more likely to happen more when secondary schools close by DD estimate insignificant at most distance above 5 km Not much going on the conditionality side The conditionality should have an impact at every distance Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 40 / 59
What did we Learn? Important to have state level controls as parallel trend is rejected Considerable catching up at all distances in Bihar Positive DD estimates in Jharkhand at all distances ⇒ girls’ age-appropriate secondary school enrollment catching up If there is generic catching up ⇒ more likely to happen more when secondary schools close by DD estimate insignificant at most distance above 5 km Not much going on the conditionality side The conditionality should have an impact at every distance Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 40 / 59
Summary of Results Almost all the program impacts are found in villages that are over 3 km away from a secondary school (with the point estimate of treatment effects in villages that are closer being close to zero) The main mechanism of program impact is not the conditionality, but rather the reduction of the distance cost of attending school The triple difference non-parametric plot as a function of distance to the nearest secondary school has an inverted-U shape DDD estimates are positive and significant at distances between 5 and 13 kms ⇒ intermediate range of distance to school at which we would see a positive effect Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 41 / 59
Summary of Results Almost all the program impacts are found in villages that are over 3 km away from a secondary school (with the point estimate of treatment effects in villages that are closer being close to zero) The main mechanism of program impact is not the conditionality, but rather the reduction of the distance cost of attending school The triple difference non-parametric plot as a function of distance to the nearest secondary school has an inverted-U shape DDD estimates are positive and significant at distances between 5 and 13 kms ⇒ intermediate range of distance to school at which we would see a positive effect Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 41 / 59
Robustness-I Further concern: Improvements in roads & law and order in Bihar would also have a greater impact on girls’ school participation than boys This impact may be greater as a function of distance to a secondary school If these improvements also differentially reduce the cost of girls’ secondary school participation proportional to the distance in the same way that the bicycle may have ⇒ our estimates could be confounding the impact of these other improvements with that of the cycle program Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 42 / 59
Robustness-I Further concern: Improvements in roads & law and order in Bihar would also have a greater impact on girls’ school participation than boys This impact may be greater as a function of distance to a secondary school If these improvements also differentially reduce the cost of girls’ secondary school participation proportional to the distance in the same way that the bicycle may have ⇒ our estimates could be confounding the impact of these other improvements with that of the cycle program Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 42 / 59
Robustness-I Further concern: Improvements in roads & law and order in Bihar would also have a greater impact on girls’ school participation than boys This impact may be greater as a function of distance to a secondary school If these improvements also differentially reduce the cost of girls’ secondary school participation proportional to the distance in the same way that the bicycle may have ⇒ our estimates could be confounding the impact of these other improvements with that of the cycle program Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 42 / 59
Robustness-I Address this concern by conducting a placebo test: Estimate triple-difference impact of exposure to the cycle program on the probability of girls’ age appropriate enrollment in (or completion of) the eighth grade Improvements in roads, law and order, and safety should affect girls in this cohort in comparable ways Girls in eighth grade were not eligible for the cycle program Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 43 / 59
Robustness-I Address this concern by conducting a placebo test: Estimate triple-difference impact of exposure to the cycle program on the probability of girls’ age appropriate enrollment in (or completion of) the eighth grade Improvements in roads, law and order, and safety should affect girls in this cohort in comparable ways Girls in eighth grade were not eligible for the cycle program Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 43 / 59
Robustness-I Address this concern by conducting a placebo test: Estimate triple-difference impact of exposure to the cycle program on the probability of girls’ age appropriate enrollment in (or completion of) the eighth grade Improvements in roads, law and order, and safety should affect girls in this cohort in comparable ways Girls in eighth grade were not eligible for the cycle program Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 43 / 59
Robustness-I Address this concern by conducting a placebo test: Estimate triple-difference impact of exposure to the cycle program on the probability of girls’ age appropriate enrollment in (or completion of) the eighth grade Improvements in roads, law and order, and safety should affect girls in this cohort in comparable ways Girls in eighth grade were not eligible for the cycle program Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 43 / 59
Triple Difference Estimate for the Exposure of Cycle Program on Girl’s Enrollment in 8th Grade Dependent variable=Enrolled in or completed grade 8 (1) (2) (3) (4) Treat×Female dummy×Bihar dummy 0.0111 -0.00226 0.00235 0.00189 (0.0237) (0.0229) (0.0214) (0.0215) Treat×Female dummy 0.0259 0.0384** 0.0462*** 0.0457*** (0.0184) (0.0178) (0.0169) (0.0170) Treat×Bihar dummy -0.00940 -0.00699 -0.00968 -0.00957 (0.0184) (0.0180) (0.0164) (0.0164) Female dummy×Bihar dummy -0.0380** -0.0350** -0.0365** -0.0352** (0.0184) (0.0176) (0.0168) (0.0168) Treat -0.151*** -0.155*** -0.154*** -0.154*** (0.0152) (0.0149) (0.0133) (0.0134) Female dummy -0.0956*** -0.0950*** -0.101*** -0.101*** (0.0148) (0.0141) (0.0137) (0.0137) Bihar dummy -0.0438*** -0.105*** -0.0779*** -0.0891*** (0.0163) (0.0165) (0.0146) (0.0148) Demographic controls NO YES YES YES HH level and literacy controls NO NO YES YES Village level controls NO NO NO YES Constant 0.522*** 0.818*** 0.549*** 0.532*** (0.0130) (0.0240) (0.0240) (0.0393) Observations 33,179 33,179 33,012 32,972 R-squared 0.038 0.089 0.202 0.203 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 44 / 59
Robustness-II Border Districts: Restrict the sample for our main triple-difference estimates to just the border districts in Bihar and Jharkhand Point estimates are practically indistinguishable from those in the full sample Triple difference analysis requires very large samples to have adequate power Duflo (2001) used Indonesia intercensal survey dataset Replicating this using Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS-3) yields positive point estimates on the impact of school construction on education attainment, but these are insignificant because of the considerably smaller sample size Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 45 / 59
Robustness-II Border Districts: Restrict the sample for our main triple-difference estimates to just the border districts in Bihar and Jharkhand Point estimates are practically indistinguishable from those in the full sample Triple difference analysis requires very large samples to have adequate power Duflo (2001) used Indonesia intercensal survey dataset Replicating this using Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS-3) yields positive point estimates on the impact of school construction on education attainment, but these are insignificant because of the considerably smaller sample size Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 45 / 59
Robustness-II Border Districts: Restrict the sample for our main triple-difference estimates to just the border districts in Bihar and Jharkhand Point estimates are practically indistinguishable from those in the full sample Triple difference analysis requires very large samples to have adequate power Duflo (2001) used Indonesia intercensal survey dataset Replicating this using Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS-3) yields positive point estimates on the impact of school construction on education attainment, but these are insignificant because of the considerably smaller sample size Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 45 / 59
Robustness-II Border Districts: Restrict the sample for our main triple-difference estimates to just the border districts in Bihar and Jharkhand Point estimates are practically indistinguishable from those in the full sample Triple difference analysis requires very large samples to have adequate power Duflo (2001) used Indonesia intercensal survey dataset Replicating this using Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS-3) yields positive point estimates on the impact of school construction on education attainment, but these are insignificant because of the considerably smaller sample size Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 45 / 59
Robustness-II Border Districts: Restrict the sample for our main triple-difference estimates to just the border districts in Bihar and Jharkhand Point estimates are practically indistinguishable from those in the full sample Triple difference analysis requires very large samples to have adequate power Duflo (2001) used Indonesia intercensal survey dataset Replicating this using Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS-3) yields positive point estimates on the impact of school construction on education attainment, but these are insignificant because of the considerably smaller sample size Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 45 / 59
Robustness-II Border Districts: Restrict the sample for our main triple-difference estimates to just the border districts in Bihar and Jharkhand Point estimates are practically indistinguishable from those in the full sample Triple difference analysis requires very large samples to have adequate power Duflo (2001) used Indonesia intercensal survey dataset Replicating this using Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS-3) yields positive point estimates on the impact of school construction on education attainment, but these are insignificant because of the considerably smaller sample size Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 45 / 59
Triple Difference Estimate for the Exposure of Cycle Program on Girl’s Enrollment (Border Districts Only) Dependent variable=Enrolled in or completed grade 9 (1) (2) (3) (4) Treat×Female dummy×Bihar dummy 0.0985** 0.0946** 0.0592* 0.0563 (0.0407) (0.0385) (0.0357) (0.0356) Treat×Female dummy 0.0400 0.0412* 0.0485** 0.0484** (0.0267) (0.0242) (0.0230) (0.0232) Treat×Bihar dummy -0.0683** -0.0740** -0.0726*** -0.0698*** (0.0295) (0.0288) (0.0268) (0.0267) Female dummy×Bihar dummy -0.0876*** -0.0945*** -0.0618** -0.0591** (0.0338) (0.0320) (0.0295) (0.0295) Treat -0.154*** -0.146*** -0.138*** -0.139*** (0.0177) (0.0167) (0.0158) (0.0158) Female dummy -0.115*** -0.108*** -0.117*** -0.118*** (0.0233) (0.0218) (0.0213) (0.0214) Bihar dummy 0.0195 -0.0152 -0.000376 -0.0116 (0.0288) (0.0277) (0.0237) (0.0234) Demographic controls NO YES YES YES HH level and literacy controls NO NO YES YES Village level controls NO NO NO YES Constant 0.449*** 0.612*** 0.387*** 0.292*** (0.0185) (0.0411) (0.0408) (0.0588) Observations 9939 9939 9899 9886 R-squared 0.040 0.093 0.219 0.222 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 46 / 59
Robustness-III Cluster the standard errors at the district level: The coefficients on the triple interaction terms continue to be significant in all four specifications Clustering is at village level in DLHS-3 Spillovers: If boys reduce schooling (undertake more chores) because their sisters go to school ⇒ estimates bias upwards Less likely in a patriarchal culture of rural Bihar We plot single difference for boys and girls for Bihar by distance No noticeable pattern for boys Inverted-U for girls Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 47 / 59
Robustness-III Cluster the standard errors at the district level: The coefficients on the triple interaction terms continue to be significant in all four specifications Clustering is at village level in DLHS-3 Spillovers: If boys reduce schooling (undertake more chores) because their sisters go to school ⇒ estimates bias upwards Less likely in a patriarchal culture of rural Bihar We plot single difference for boys and girls for Bihar by distance No noticeable pattern for boys Inverted-U for girls Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 47 / 59
Robustness-III Cluster the standard errors at the district level: The coefficients on the triple interaction terms continue to be significant in all four specifications Clustering is at village level in DLHS-3 Spillovers: If boys reduce schooling (undertake more chores) because their sisters go to school ⇒ estimates bias upwards Less likely in a patriarchal culture of rural Bihar We plot single difference for boys and girls for Bihar by distance No noticeable pattern for boys Inverted-U for girls Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 47 / 59
Robustness-III Cluster the standard errors at the district level: The coefficients on the triple interaction terms continue to be significant in all four specifications Clustering is at village level in DLHS-3 Spillovers: If boys reduce schooling (undertake more chores) because their sisters go to school ⇒ estimates bias upwards Less likely in a patriarchal culture of rural Bihar We plot single difference for boys and girls for Bihar by distance No noticeable pattern for boys Inverted-U for girls Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 47 / 59
Robustness-III Cluster the standard errors at the district level: The coefficients on the triple interaction terms continue to be significant in all four specifications Clustering is at village level in DLHS-3 Spillovers: If boys reduce schooling (undertake more chores) because their sisters go to school ⇒ estimates bias upwards Less likely in a patriarchal culture of rural Bihar We plot single difference for boys and girls for Bihar by distance No noticeable pattern for boys Inverted-U for girls Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 47 / 59
Robustness-III Cluster the standard errors at the district level: The coefficients on the triple interaction terms continue to be significant in all four specifications Clustering is at village level in DLHS-3 Spillovers: If boys reduce schooling (undertake more chores) because their sisters go to school ⇒ estimates bias upwards Less likely in a patriarchal culture of rural Bihar We plot single difference for boys and girls for Bihar by distance No noticeable pattern for boys Inverted-U for girls Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 47 / 59
Robustness-III Cluster the standard errors at the district level: The coefficients on the triple interaction terms continue to be significant in all four specifications Clustering is at village level in DLHS-3 Spillovers: If boys reduce schooling (undertake more chores) because their sisters go to school ⇒ estimates bias upwards Less likely in a patriarchal culture of rural Bihar We plot single difference for boys and girls for Bihar by distance No noticeable pattern for boys Inverted-U for girls Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 47 / 59
Robustness-III Cluster the standard errors at the district level: The coefficients on the triple interaction terms continue to be significant in all four specifications Clustering is at village level in DLHS-3 Spillovers: If boys reduce schooling (undertake more chores) because their sisters go to school ⇒ estimates bias upwards Less likely in a patriarchal culture of rural Bihar We plot single difference for boys and girls for Bihar by distance No noticeable pattern for boys Inverted-U for girls Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 47 / 59
Are Effects Heterogenous? Many of the large scale public policy programs in developing countries have heterogeneous effects Despite the cycle program’s universality and the fact that it was not targeted towards specific groups, castes, or religions, it may still have heterogenous effects Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 48 / 59
Heterogeneity in the Exposure of the Cycle Program on Girls’ Enrollment Treatment group = Age 14 and 15 Full School > 3 km Control group = Age 16 and 17 sample away (1) (2) Triple Difference Coefficient Treat×Female×Bihar×Asset Index 0.00317 0.0452 (0.0240) (0.0353) Treat×Female×Bihar×SES Index 0.0107 0.00827 (0.0182) (0.0250) Treat×Female×Bihar×OBC vs. General 0.0344 -0.0345 (0.0816) (0.103) Treat×Female×Bihar×SC vs. General -0.0498 -0.0873 (0.0949) (0.121) Treat×Female×Bihar×ST vs. General -0.0652 -0.177 (0.114) (0.130) Treat×Female×Bihar×Muslim vs. General 0.0413 0.0107 (0.105) (0.136) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 49 / 59
What are the Impacts on Learning Outcomes? We found positive impact of the exposure to the Cycle program on girls enrollment in secondary school The next logical step is to look at the impact of the cycle program on learning outcomes Log(Appeared) Log(Passed) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 50 / 59
What are the Impacts on Learning Outcomes? We found positive impact of the exposure to the Cycle program on girls enrollment in secondary school The next logical step is to look at the impact of the cycle program on learning outcomes Log(Appeared) Log(Passed) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 50 / 59
What are the Impacts on Learning Outcomes? We found positive impact of the exposure to the Cycle program on girls enrollment in secondary school The next logical step is to look at the impact of the cycle program on learning outcomes Log(Appeared) Log(Passed) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 50 / 59
Estimates of Exposure of the Cycle Program on Performance in Grade 10 Exam (School Level) Dependent Variable Log(Appeared) Log(Passed) (1) (2) PANEL A: DD Estimates Female Dummy×Post 0.304*** 0.215*** (0.0239) (0.0302) Observations 32172 31995 R-squared 0.195 0.168 PANEL B: DDD Estimates Female Dummy×Bihar×Post 0.0946** 0.00103 (0.0399) (0.0449) Observations 45564 45215 R-squared 0.162 0.144 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 51 / 59
Triple Difference Estimates of Exposure of the Cycle Program on Test Scores Treatment group = Age 14 and 15 Parents (1) + Household (2) + Village Control group = Age 16 education controls controls (1) (2) (3) PANEL A: Impact of Cycle Program on Girl’s Enrollment Dependent variable: Enrollment dummy Treat×Female dummy×Bihar dummy 0.0488 0.0504 0.0600 (0.0509) (0.0521) (0.0616) PANEL B: Impact of Cycle Program on Girl’s Test Scores Dependent variable: girl student can do two-digit subtraction Treat×Female dummy×Bihar dummy 0.00258 0.00448 0.0411 (0.0334) (0.0346) (0.0413) Dependent variable: girl student can do division (3-by-1 form) Treat×Female dummy×Bihar dummy 0.0107 0.0105 -0.00771 (0.0460) (0.0465) (0.0536) Dependent variable: girl student can read Std. 1 level text Treat×Female dummy×Bihar dummy 0.0293 0.0408 0.0478 (0.0280) (0.0287) (0.0349) Dependent variable: girl student can read Std. 2 level text Treat×Female dummy×Bihar dummy -0.00781 -0.0164 -0.00634 (0.0444) (0.0452) (0.0502) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 52 / 59
Summary of Results We find that exposure to the cycle program increased the number of girls appearing for the SSC exam by 9.5% (significant at the 5% level) No increase in the number of girls who passed the SSC exam Results consistent with other evaluations of conditional transfer programs in developing countries (especially Latin America) that find significant impacts on enrollment but typically find no impacts on learning outcomes Verify triple difference results using ASER 2008 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 53 / 59
Summary of Results We find that exposure to the cycle program increased the number of girls appearing for the SSC exam by 9.5% (significant at the 5% level) No increase in the number of girls who passed the SSC exam Results consistent with other evaluations of conditional transfer programs in developing countries (especially Latin America) that find significant impacts on enrollment but typically find no impacts on learning outcomes Verify triple difference results using ASER 2008 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 53 / 59
Summary of Results We find that exposure to the cycle program increased the number of girls appearing for the SSC exam by 9.5% (significant at the 5% level) No increase in the number of girls who passed the SSC exam Results consistent with other evaluations of conditional transfer programs in developing countries (especially Latin America) that find significant impacts on enrollment but typically find no impacts on learning outcomes Verify triple difference results using ASER 2008 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 53 / 59
Summary of Results We find that exposure to the cycle program increased the number of girls appearing for the SSC exam by 9.5% (significant at the 5% level) No increase in the number of girls who passed the SSC exam Results consistent with other evaluations of conditional transfer programs in developing countries (especially Latin America) that find significant impacts on enrollment but typically find no impacts on learning outcomes Verify triple difference results using ASER 2008 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 53 / 59
Summary of Results Potential Explanations: The program provided an incentive for enrollment but not for achievement The girls induced to stay in school are likely to have been drawn from the lower end of the eighth grade test score distribution ⇒ less likely to pass the strict standards of the externally-graded SSC exam Investments in school quality did not keep pace with the increase in demand ⇒ may have led to a reduction in per-student school quality Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 54 / 59
Summary of Results Potential Explanations: The program provided an incentive for enrollment but not for achievement The girls induced to stay in school are likely to have been drawn from the lower end of the eighth grade test score distribution ⇒ less likely to pass the strict standards of the externally-graded SSC exam Investments in school quality did not keep pace with the increase in demand ⇒ may have led to a reduction in per-student school quality Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 54 / 59
Summary of Results Potential Explanations: The program provided an incentive for enrollment but not for achievement The girls induced to stay in school are likely to have been drawn from the lower end of the eighth grade test score distribution ⇒ less likely to pass the strict standards of the externally-graded SSC exam Investments in school quality did not keep pace with the increase in demand ⇒ may have led to a reduction in per-student school quality Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 54 / 59
Summary of Results Potential Explanations: The program provided an incentive for enrollment but not for achievement The girls induced to stay in school are likely to have been drawn from the lower end of the eighth grade test score distribution ⇒ less likely to pass the strict standards of the externally-graded SSC exam Investments in school quality did not keep pace with the increase in demand ⇒ may have led to a reduction in per-student school quality Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 54 / 59
Cost Effectiveness Compare our estimates to CCT program in Pakistan (Chaudhury and Parajuli 2010) Girls’s stipend program ($3/month per recipient) increased female enrollment in grade 6–8 (between 2003–2005) by 9 percent (4 percentage points on a base of 43%) Cycle program ($2/month per recipient) increased female enrollment by 40 percent (5 percentage points on a base of 13%) Female dropout much bigger challenge at secondary level vs. middle level Cycle program had both a higher absolute impact and higher impact relative to base enrollment rates compared to the Stipend program Cycle program more cost-effective than comparable CCT Likely to be more cost-effective for girls who live further away from a secondary school Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 55 / 59
Cost Effectiveness Compare our estimates to CCT program in Pakistan (Chaudhury and Parajuli 2010) Girls’s stipend program ($3/month per recipient) increased female enrollment in grade 6–8 (between 2003–2005) by 9 percent (4 percentage points on a base of 43%) Cycle program ($2/month per recipient) increased female enrollment by 40 percent (5 percentage points on a base of 13%) Female dropout much bigger challenge at secondary level vs. middle level Cycle program had both a higher absolute impact and higher impact relative to base enrollment rates compared to the Stipend program Cycle program more cost-effective than comparable CCT Likely to be more cost-effective for girls who live further away from a secondary school Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 55 / 59
Cost Effectiveness Compare our estimates to CCT program in Pakistan (Chaudhury and Parajuli 2010) Girls’s stipend program ($3/month per recipient) increased female enrollment in grade 6–8 (between 2003–2005) by 9 percent (4 percentage points on a base of 43%) Cycle program ($2/month per recipient) increased female enrollment by 40 percent (5 percentage points on a base of 13%) Female dropout much bigger challenge at secondary level vs. middle level Cycle program had both a higher absolute impact and higher impact relative to base enrollment rates compared to the Stipend program Cycle program more cost-effective than comparable CCT Likely to be more cost-effective for girls who live further away from a secondary school Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 55 / 59
Cost Effectiveness Compare our estimates to CCT program in Pakistan (Chaudhury and Parajuli 2010) Girls’s stipend program ($3/month per recipient) increased female enrollment in grade 6–8 (between 2003–2005) by 9 percent (4 percentage points on a base of 43%) Cycle program ($2/month per recipient) increased female enrollment by 40 percent (5 percentage points on a base of 13%) Female dropout much bigger challenge at secondary level vs. middle level Cycle program had both a higher absolute impact and higher impact relative to base enrollment rates compared to the Stipend program Cycle program more cost-effective than comparable CCT Likely to be more cost-effective for girls who live further away from a secondary school Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 55 / 59
Cost Effectiveness Compare our estimates to CCT program in Pakistan (Chaudhury and Parajuli 2010) Girls’s stipend program ($3/month per recipient) increased female enrollment in grade 6–8 (between 2003–2005) by 9 percent (4 percentage points on a base of 43%) Cycle program ($2/month per recipient) increased female enrollment by 40 percent (5 percentage points on a base of 13%) Female dropout much bigger challenge at secondary level vs. middle level Cycle program had both a higher absolute impact and higher impact relative to base enrollment rates compared to the Stipend program Cycle program more cost-effective than comparable CCT Likely to be more cost-effective for girls who live further away from a secondary school Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 55 / 59
Cost Effectiveness Compare our estimates to CCT program in Pakistan (Chaudhury and Parajuli 2010) Girls’s stipend program ($3/month per recipient) increased female enrollment in grade 6–8 (between 2003–2005) by 9 percent (4 percentage points on a base of 43%) Cycle program ($2/month per recipient) increased female enrollment by 40 percent (5 percentage points on a base of 13%) Female dropout much bigger challenge at secondary level vs. middle level Cycle program had both a higher absolute impact and higher impact relative to base enrollment rates compared to the Stipend program Cycle program more cost-effective than comparable CCT Likely to be more cost-effective for girls who live further away from a secondary school Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 55 / 59
Cost Effectiveness Compare our estimates to CCT program in Pakistan (Chaudhury and Parajuli 2010) Girls’s stipend program ($3/month per recipient) increased female enrollment in grade 6–8 (between 2003–2005) by 9 percent (4 percentage points on a base of 43%) Cycle program ($2/month per recipient) increased female enrollment by 40 percent (5 percentage points on a base of 13%) Female dropout much bigger challenge at secondary level vs. middle level Cycle program had both a higher absolute impact and higher impact relative to base enrollment rates compared to the Stipend program Cycle program more cost-effective than comparable CCT Likely to be more cost-effective for girls who live further away from a secondary school Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 55 / 59
Cash vs. Kind Transfers as a Tool for Social Policy Under what circumstances may in-kind transfer do better than equivalent cash transfer? Cycle for an adolescent girl was unlikely to be infra-marginal to pre-program household spending ⇒ difficult to substitute away (Das et al. 2013) Bicycle directly reduced the marginal cost of schooling on a daily basis relative to general cash transfer (augments household budget) Why might a household not use cash transfer to buy a bicycle on their own if this was a binding constraint? Household still face credit constraint ⇒ difficult to transform small monthly transfers into an expensive capital good (need to pay upfront) In-kind provision changes the default of what the money is spent on, and removes the transfer from sphere of intra-household bargaining Individual versus Group provision: Positive spillovers, group externalities (greater safety when girls cycle together, change in social norms) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 56 / 59
Cash vs. Kind Transfers as a Tool for Social Policy Under what circumstances may in-kind transfer do better than equivalent cash transfer? Cycle for an adolescent girl was unlikely to be infra-marginal to pre-program household spending ⇒ difficult to substitute away (Das et al. 2013) Bicycle directly reduced the marginal cost of schooling on a daily basis relative to general cash transfer (augments household budget) Why might a household not use cash transfer to buy a bicycle on their own if this was a binding constraint? Household still face credit constraint ⇒ difficult to transform small monthly transfers into an expensive capital good (need to pay upfront) In-kind provision changes the default of what the money is spent on, and removes the transfer from sphere of intra-household bargaining Individual versus Group provision: Positive spillovers, group externalities (greater safety when girls cycle together, change in social norms) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 56 / 59
Cash vs. Kind Transfers as a Tool for Social Policy Under what circumstances may in-kind transfer do better than equivalent cash transfer? Cycle for an adolescent girl was unlikely to be infra-marginal to pre-program household spending ⇒ difficult to substitute away (Das et al. 2013) Bicycle directly reduced the marginal cost of schooling on a daily basis relative to general cash transfer (augments household budget) Why might a household not use cash transfer to buy a bicycle on their own if this was a binding constraint? Household still face credit constraint ⇒ difficult to transform small monthly transfers into an expensive capital good (need to pay upfront) In-kind provision changes the default of what the money is spent on, and removes the transfer from sphere of intra-household bargaining Individual versus Group provision: Positive spillovers, group externalities (greater safety when girls cycle together, change in social norms) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 56 / 59
Cash vs. Kind Transfers as a Tool for Social Policy Under what circumstances may in-kind transfer do better than equivalent cash transfer? Cycle for an adolescent girl was unlikely to be infra-marginal to pre-program household spending ⇒ difficult to substitute away (Das et al. 2013) Bicycle directly reduced the marginal cost of schooling on a daily basis relative to general cash transfer (augments household budget) Why might a household not use cash transfer to buy a bicycle on their own if this was a binding constraint? Household still face credit constraint ⇒ difficult to transform small monthly transfers into an expensive capital good (need to pay upfront) In-kind provision changes the default of what the money is spent on, and removes the transfer from sphere of intra-household bargaining Individual versus Group provision: Positive spillovers, group externalities (greater safety when girls cycle together, change in social norms) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 56 / 59
Cash vs. Kind Transfers as a Tool for Social Policy Under what circumstances may in-kind transfer do better than equivalent cash transfer? Cycle for an adolescent girl was unlikely to be infra-marginal to pre-program household spending ⇒ difficult to substitute away (Das et al. 2013) Bicycle directly reduced the marginal cost of schooling on a daily basis relative to general cash transfer (augments household budget) Why might a household not use cash transfer to buy a bicycle on their own if this was a binding constraint? Household still face credit constraint ⇒ difficult to transform small monthly transfers into an expensive capital good (need to pay upfront) In-kind provision changes the default of what the money is spent on, and removes the transfer from sphere of intra-household bargaining Individual versus Group provision: Positive spillovers, group externalities (greater safety when girls cycle together, change in social norms) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 56 / 59
Cash vs. Kind Transfers as a Tool for Social Policy Under what circumstances may in-kind transfer do better than equivalent cash transfer? Cycle for an adolescent girl was unlikely to be infra-marginal to pre-program household spending ⇒ difficult to substitute away (Das et al. 2013) Bicycle directly reduced the marginal cost of schooling on a daily basis relative to general cash transfer (augments household budget) Why might a household not use cash transfer to buy a bicycle on their own if this was a binding constraint? Household still face credit constraint ⇒ difficult to transform small monthly transfers into an expensive capital good (need to pay upfront) In-kind provision changes the default of what the money is spent on, and removes the transfer from sphere of intra-household bargaining Individual versus Group provision: Positive spillovers, group externalities (greater safety when girls cycle together, change in social norms) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 56 / 59
Cash vs. Kind Transfers as a Tool for Social Policy Under what circumstances may in-kind transfer do better than equivalent cash transfer? Cycle for an adolescent girl was unlikely to be infra-marginal to pre-program household spending ⇒ difficult to substitute away (Das et al. 2013) Bicycle directly reduced the marginal cost of schooling on a daily basis relative to general cash transfer (augments household budget) Why might a household not use cash transfer to buy a bicycle on their own if this was a binding constraint? Household still face credit constraint ⇒ difficult to transform small monthly transfers into an expensive capital good (need to pay upfront) In-kind provision changes the default of what the money is spent on, and removes the transfer from sphere of intra-household bargaining Individual versus Group provision: Positive spillovers, group externalities (greater safety when girls cycle together, change in social norms) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 56 / 59
Cash vs. Kind Transfers as a Tool for Social Policy Under what circumstances may in-kind transfer do better than equivalent cash transfer? Cycle for an adolescent girl was unlikely to be infra-marginal to pre-program household spending ⇒ difficult to substitute away (Das et al. 2013) Bicycle directly reduced the marginal cost of schooling on a daily basis relative to general cash transfer (augments household budget) Why might a household not use cash transfer to buy a bicycle on their own if this was a binding constraint? Household still face credit constraint ⇒ difficult to transform small monthly transfers into an expensive capital good (need to pay upfront) In-kind provision changes the default of what the money is spent on, and removes the transfer from sphere of intra-household bargaining Individual versus Group provision: Positive spillovers, group externalities (greater safety when girls cycle together, change in social norms) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 56 / 59
Historical Perspective Role played by bicycles in enhancing the mobility, freedom, and independence of women in the 19th century Cycle program can also empower girls’ beyond school attendance by increasing their mobility and independence This suggests an additional reason for why an in-kind transfer like the bicycle may in this context be more effective at improving female education outcomes Households in strongly patriarchal settings like rural Bihar may be more inclined to direct the girl’s share towards consumption (or saving for marriage) than to make investments for girls (such as a bicycle) Investments in girls (e.g. bicycle) can dynamically improve their bargaining power over time in their communities (Basu 2006) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 57 / 59
Historical Perspective Role played by bicycles in enhancing the mobility, freedom, and independence of women in the 19th century Cycle program can also empower girls’ beyond school attendance by increasing their mobility and independence This suggests an additional reason for why an in-kind transfer like the bicycle may in this context be more effective at improving female education outcomes Households in strongly patriarchal settings like rural Bihar may be more inclined to direct the girl’s share towards consumption (or saving for marriage) than to make investments for girls (such as a bicycle) Investments in girls (e.g. bicycle) can dynamically improve their bargaining power over time in their communities (Basu 2006) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 57 / 59
Historical Perspective Role played by bicycles in enhancing the mobility, freedom, and independence of women in the 19th century Cycle program can also empower girls’ beyond school attendance by increasing their mobility and independence This suggests an additional reason for why an in-kind transfer like the bicycle may in this context be more effective at improving female education outcomes Households in strongly patriarchal settings like rural Bihar may be more inclined to direct the girl’s share towards consumption (or saving for marriage) than to make investments for girls (such as a bicycle) Investments in girls (e.g. bicycle) can dynamically improve their bargaining power over time in their communities (Basu 2006) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 57 / 59
Historical Perspective Role played by bicycles in enhancing the mobility, freedom, and independence of women in the 19th century Cycle program can also empower girls’ beyond school attendance by increasing their mobility and independence This suggests an additional reason for why an in-kind transfer like the bicycle may in this context be more effective at improving female education outcomes Households in strongly patriarchal settings like rural Bihar may be more inclined to direct the girl’s share towards consumption (or saving for marriage) than to make investments for girls (such as a bicycle) Investments in girls (e.g. bicycle) can dynamically improve their bargaining power over time in their communities (Basu 2006) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 57 / 59
Historical Perspective Role played by bicycles in enhancing the mobility, freedom, and independence of women in the 19th century Cycle program can also empower girls’ beyond school attendance by increasing their mobility and independence This suggests an additional reason for why an in-kind transfer like the bicycle may in this context be more effective at improving female education outcomes Households in strongly patriarchal settings like rural Bihar may be more inclined to direct the girl’s share towards consumption (or saving for marriage) than to make investments for girls (such as a bicycle) Investments in girls (e.g. bicycle) can dynamically improve their bargaining power over time in their communities (Basu 2006) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 57 / 59
Summary of Results Impact of exposure to the Cycle program suggest that it increased girls age-appropriate enrollment in secondary schools by 5 percentage points On a base of 13%, this is a 40% increase in enrollment Exposure to the Cycle program had a greater impact for girls who lived further away from a secondary school A key mechanism for program impact was the reduction in the ‘distance cost’ of school attendance for girls due to the cycle Modest impact on learning outcomes (consistent with CT literature) Program was at least as cost-effective as other comparable ones Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 58 / 59
Summary of Results Impact of exposure to the Cycle program suggest that it increased girls age-appropriate enrollment in secondary schools by 5 percentage points On a base of 13%, this is a 40% increase in enrollment Exposure to the Cycle program had a greater impact for girls who lived further away from a secondary school A key mechanism for program impact was the reduction in the ‘distance cost’ of school attendance for girls due to the cycle Modest impact on learning outcomes (consistent with CT literature) Program was at least as cost-effective as other comparable ones Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 58 / 59
Summary of Results Impact of exposure to the Cycle program suggest that it increased girls age-appropriate enrollment in secondary schools by 5 percentage points On a base of 13%, this is a 40% increase in enrollment Exposure to the Cycle program had a greater impact for girls who lived further away from a secondary school A key mechanism for program impact was the reduction in the ‘distance cost’ of school attendance for girls due to the cycle Modest impact on learning outcomes (consistent with CT literature) Program was at least as cost-effective as other comparable ones Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 58 / 59
Summary of Results Impact of exposure to the Cycle program suggest that it increased girls age-appropriate enrollment in secondary schools by 5 percentage points On a base of 13%, this is a 40% increase in enrollment Exposure to the Cycle program had a greater impact for girls who lived further away from a secondary school A key mechanism for program impact was the reduction in the ‘distance cost’ of school attendance for girls due to the cycle Modest impact on learning outcomes (consistent with CT literature) Program was at least as cost-effective as other comparable ones Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 58 / 59
Summary of Results Impact of exposure to the Cycle program suggest that it increased girls age-appropriate enrollment in secondary schools by 5 percentage points On a base of 13%, this is a 40% increase in enrollment Exposure to the Cycle program had a greater impact for girls who lived further away from a secondary school A key mechanism for program impact was the reduction in the ‘distance cost’ of school attendance for girls due to the cycle Modest impact on learning outcomes (consistent with CT literature) Program was at least as cost-effective as other comparable ones Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 58 / 59
Policy Implications and Future Research Implications for cash vs. kind transfers–kind may work well when: There is a direct reduction in the marginal cost of schooling The in-kind item is NOT infra-marginal to household spending It helps the input ‘stick’ to the recipient as opposed to be subject to intra household bargaining/allocation Possibly an evidence supporting cost-effective scalable policy to improve access to secondary education without compromising on scale Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 59 / 59
Policy Implications and Future Research Implications for cash vs. kind transfers–kind may work well when: There is a direct reduction in the marginal cost of schooling The in-kind item is NOT infra-marginal to household spending It helps the input ‘stick’ to the recipient as opposed to be subject to intra household bargaining/allocation Possibly an evidence supporting cost-effective scalable policy to improve access to secondary education without compromising on scale Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 59 / 59

Recommended

Strategies and Activities to Engage Kids in Mathematics
Strategies and Activities to Engage Kids in MathematicsStrategies and Activities to Engage Kids in Mathematics
Strategies and Activities to Engage Kids in MathematicsNorth Carolina Association for Middle Level Education
 
समस्या समाधान के चरण या अवस्थाएं
समस्या समाधान के चरण या अवस्थाएंसमस्या समाधान के चरण या अवस्थाएं
समस्या समाधान के चरण या अवस्थाएंDr Rajesh Verma
 
RTE Act and Its Relationship With Curriculum, Pedagogy and Teachers
RTE Act and Its Relationship With Curriculum, Pedagogy and TeachersRTE Act and Its Relationship With Curriculum, Pedagogy and Teachers
RTE Act and Its Relationship With Curriculum, Pedagogy and Teachersrkbioraj24
 
Direct to Indirect in 5 easy steps by Prosenjeet Dasgupta
Direct to Indirect in 5 easy steps by Prosenjeet DasguptaDirect to Indirect in 5 easy steps by Prosenjeet Dasgupta
Direct to Indirect in 5 easy steps by Prosenjeet DasguptaFaculty in the Senior Section, Seth M R Jaipuria, Lucknow
 
09.19.2013 - Laura Schechter
09.19.2013 - Laura Schechter09.19.2013 - Laura Schechter
09.19.2013 - Laura SchechterAMDSeminarSeries
 
08.15.2013 - Robert Jensen
08.15.2013 - Robert Jensen08.15.2013 - Robert Jensen
08.15.2013 - Robert JensenAMDSeminarSeries
 
07.18.2013 - Michael Clemens
07.18.2013 - Michael Clemens07.18.2013 - Michael Clemens
07.18.2013 - Michael ClemensAMDSeminarSeries
 
04.24.2013 - Maitreesh Ghatak
04.24.2013 - Maitreesh Ghatak04.24.2013 - Maitreesh Ghatak
04.24.2013 - Maitreesh GhatakAMDSeminarSeries
 

Recommended

Strategies and Activities to Engage Kids in Mathematics
Strategies and Activities to Engage Kids in MathematicsStrategies and Activities to Engage Kids in Mathematics
Strategies and Activities to Engage Kids in MathematicsNorth Carolina Association for Middle Level Education
 
समस्या समाधान के चरण या अवस्थाएं
समस्या समाधान के चरण या अवस्थाएंसमस्या समाधान के चरण या अवस्थाएं
समस्या समाधान के चरण या अवस्थाएंDr Rajesh Verma
 
RTE Act and Its Relationship With Curriculum, Pedagogy and Teachers
RTE Act and Its Relationship With Curriculum, Pedagogy and TeachersRTE Act and Its Relationship With Curriculum, Pedagogy and Teachers
RTE Act and Its Relationship With Curriculum, Pedagogy and Teachersrkbioraj24
 
Direct to Indirect in 5 easy steps by Prosenjeet Dasgupta
Direct to Indirect in 5 easy steps by Prosenjeet DasguptaDirect to Indirect in 5 easy steps by Prosenjeet Dasgupta
Direct to Indirect in 5 easy steps by Prosenjeet DasguptaFaculty in the Senior Section, Seth M R Jaipuria, Lucknow
 
09.19.2013 - Laura Schechter
09.19.2013 - Laura Schechter09.19.2013 - Laura Schechter
09.19.2013 - Laura SchechterAMDSeminarSeries
 
08.15.2013 - Robert Jensen
08.15.2013 - Robert Jensen08.15.2013 - Robert Jensen
08.15.2013 - Robert JensenAMDSeminarSeries
 
07.18.2013 - Michael Clemens
07.18.2013 - Michael Clemens07.18.2013 - Michael Clemens
07.18.2013 - Michael ClemensAMDSeminarSeries
 
04.24.2013 - Maitreesh Ghatak
04.24.2013 - Maitreesh Ghatak04.24.2013 - Maitreesh Ghatak
04.24.2013 - Maitreesh GhatakAMDSeminarSeries
 
fightingfive
fightingfivefightingfive
fightingfiveCitizens for Accountable Governance
 
Project ISR- May 15, 2016
Project ISR- May 15, 2016Project ISR- May 15, 2016
Project ISR- May 15, 2016Ravindra Thapa
 
Pratham Presentation
Pratham PresentationPratham Presentation
Pratham Presentationprathamhouston
 
Teach For India - Audio Presentation
Teach For India - Audio Presentation Teach For India - Audio Presentation
Teach For India - Audio Presentation Teach For India
 
Lessons from the field while working for a Common School System at Mewat, Har...
Lessons from the field while working for a Common School System at Mewat, Har...Lessons from the field while working for a Common School System at Mewat, Har...
Lessons from the field while working for a Common School System at Mewat, Har...Glenn Fawcett
 
CURRENT SITUATION OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN INDIA
CURRENT SITUATION OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN INDIACURRENT SITUATION OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN INDIA
CURRENT SITUATION OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN INDIAmapmystudy.com
 
IPDC Presentation copy.pptx on present scenario
IPDC Presentation copy.pptx on present scenarioIPDC Presentation copy.pptx on present scenario
IPDC Presentation copy.pptx on present scenarioAazimPathan
 
IPDC Presentation copy.pptx on future scenario
IPDC Presentation copy.pptx on future scenarioIPDC Presentation copy.pptx on future scenario
IPDC Presentation copy.pptx on future scenarioAazimPathan
 
Manthan
ManthanManthan
ManthanCitizens for Accountable Governance
 
Improving learning outcomes by raising in-class teacher effectiveness
Improving learning outcomes by raising in-class teacher effectivenessImproving learning outcomes by raising in-class teacher effectiveness
Improving learning outcomes by raising in-class teacher effectivenessConfederation of Indian Industry
 
MANTRA's School Transformation and Empowerment Project(STEP) - October 2014 B...
MANTRA's School Transformation and Empowerment Project(STEP) - October 2014 B...MANTRA's School Transformation and Empowerment Project(STEP) - October 2014 B...
MANTRA's School Transformation and Empowerment Project(STEP) - October 2014 B...Anoop Erakkil
 
Pratham_overall Overview
Pratham_overall OverviewPratham_overall Overview
Pratham_overall OverviewSamir Nabar
 
Recruitment Flyer for Teach For India
Recruitment Flyer for Teach For IndiaRecruitment Flyer for Teach For India
Recruitment Flyer for Teach For Indiaguest57b010
 
Nahin black book
Nahin black bookNahin black book
Nahin black bookHash Bhadra
 
Education to Educate: A Case of Punjab Education Foundation
Education to Educate: A Case of Punjab Education FoundationEducation to Educate: A Case of Punjab Education Foundation
Education to Educate: A Case of Punjab Education FoundationIJAEMSJORNAL
 
Primary-Education-1
Primary-Education-1Primary-Education-1
Primary-Education-1Abhishek Kumar
 
TeamSIMC05
TeamSIMC05TeamSIMC05
TeamSIMC05Citizens for Accountable Governance
 
Sheetal Bapat.ppt
Sheetal Bapat.pptSheetal Bapat.ppt
Sheetal Bapat.pptTrishanAnalyst
 
Sheetal Bapat.ppt
Sheetal Bapat.pptSheetal Bapat.ppt
Sheetal Bapat.pptRajeevRajan26
 
Sheetal Bapat.ppt
Sheetal Bapat.pptSheetal Bapat.ppt
Sheetal Bapat.pptSHYAMA SHYAM NIKUNJ
 
02.16.2014 - Carolina Castilla
02.16.2014 - Carolina Castilla02.16.2014 - Carolina Castilla
02.16.2014 - Carolina CastillaAMDSeminarSeries
 
11.07.2013 - Jenny Aker
11.07.2013 - Jenny Aker11.07.2013 - Jenny Aker
11.07.2013 - Jenny AkerAMDSeminarSeries
 

More Related Content

Similar to 06.20.2013 - Nishith Prakash

Project ISR- May 15, 2016
Project ISR- May 15, 2016Project ISR- May 15, 2016
Project ISR- May 15, 2016Ravindra Thapa
 
Teach For India - Audio Presentation
Teach For India - Audio Presentation Teach For India - Audio Presentation
Teach For India - Audio Presentation Teach For India
 
Lessons from the field while working for a Common School System at Mewat, Har...
Lessons from the field while working for a Common School System at Mewat, Har...Lessons from the field while working for a Common School System at Mewat, Har...
Lessons from the field while working for a Common School System at Mewat, Har...Glenn Fawcett
 
CURRENT SITUATION OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN INDIA
CURRENT SITUATION OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN INDIACURRENT SITUATION OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN INDIA
CURRENT SITUATION OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN INDIAmapmystudy.com
 
IPDC Presentation copy.pptx on present scenario
IPDC Presentation copy.pptx on present scenarioIPDC Presentation copy.pptx on present scenario
IPDC Presentation copy.pptx on present scenarioAazimPathan
 
IPDC Presentation copy.pptx on future scenario
IPDC Presentation copy.pptx on future scenarioIPDC Presentation copy.pptx on future scenario
IPDC Presentation copy.pptx on future scenarioAazimPathan
 
Improving learning outcomes by raising in-class teacher effectiveness
Improving learning outcomes by raising in-class teacher effectivenessImproving learning outcomes by raising in-class teacher effectiveness
Improving learning outcomes by raising in-class teacher effectivenessConfederation of Indian Industry
 
MANTRA's School Transformation and Empowerment Project(STEP) - October 2014 B...
MANTRA's School Transformation and Empowerment Project(STEP) - October 2014 B...MANTRA's School Transformation and Empowerment Project(STEP) - October 2014 B...
MANTRA's School Transformation and Empowerment Project(STEP) - October 2014 B...Anoop Erakkil
 
Pratham_overall Overview
Pratham_overall OverviewPratham_overall Overview
Pratham_overall OverviewSamir Nabar
 
Recruitment Flyer for Teach For India
Recruitment Flyer for Teach For IndiaRecruitment Flyer for Teach For India
Recruitment Flyer for Teach For Indiaguest57b010
 
Nahin black book
Nahin black bookNahin black book
Nahin black bookHash Bhadra
 
Education to Educate: A Case of Punjab Education Foundation
Education to Educate: A Case of Punjab Education FoundationEducation to Educate: A Case of Punjab Education Foundation
Education to Educate: A Case of Punjab Education FoundationIJAEMSJORNAL
 

Similar to 06.20.2013 - Nishith Prakash (20)

fightingfive
fightingfivefightingfive
fightingfive
 
Project ISR- May 15, 2016
Project ISR- May 15, 2016Project ISR- May 15, 2016
Project ISR- May 15, 2016
 
Pratham Presentation
Pratham PresentationPratham Presentation
Pratham Presentation
 
Teach For India - Audio Presentation
Teach For India - Audio Presentation Teach For India - Audio Presentation
Teach For India - Audio Presentation
 
Lessons from the field while working for a Common School System at Mewat, Har...
Lessons from the field while working for a Common School System at Mewat, Har...Lessons from the field while working for a Common School System at Mewat, Har...
Lessons from the field while working for a Common School System at Mewat, Har...
 
CURRENT SITUATION OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN INDIA
CURRENT SITUATION OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN INDIACURRENT SITUATION OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN INDIA
CURRENT SITUATION OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN INDIA
 
IPDC Presentation copy.pptx on present scenario
IPDC Presentation copy.pptx on present scenarioIPDC Presentation copy.pptx on present scenario
IPDC Presentation copy.pptx on present scenario
 
IPDC Presentation copy.pptx on future scenario
IPDC Presentation copy.pptx on future scenarioIPDC Presentation copy.pptx on future scenario
IPDC Presentation copy.pptx on future scenario
 
Manthan
ManthanManthan
Manthan
 
Improving learning outcomes by raising in-class teacher effectiveness
Improving learning outcomes by raising in-class teacher effectivenessImproving learning outcomes by raising in-class teacher effectiveness
Improving learning outcomes by raising in-class teacher effectiveness
 
MANTRA's School Transformation and Empowerment Project(STEP) - October 2014 B...
MANTRA's School Transformation and Empowerment Project(STEP) - October 2014 B...MANTRA's School Transformation and Empowerment Project(STEP) - October 2014 B...
MANTRA's School Transformation and Empowerment Project(STEP) - October 2014 B...
 
Pratham_overall Overview
Pratham_overall OverviewPratham_overall Overview
Pratham_overall Overview
 
Recruitment Flyer for Teach For India
Recruitment Flyer for Teach For IndiaRecruitment Flyer for Teach For India
Recruitment Flyer for Teach For India
 
Nahin black book
Nahin black bookNahin black book
Nahin black book
 
Education to Educate: A Case of Punjab Education Foundation
Education to Educate: A Case of Punjab Education FoundationEducation to Educate: A Case of Punjab Education Foundation
Education to Educate: A Case of Punjab Education Foundation
 
Primary-Education-1
Primary-Education-1Primary-Education-1
Primary-Education-1
 
TeamSIMC05
TeamSIMC05TeamSIMC05
TeamSIMC05
 
Sheetal Bapat.ppt
Sheetal Bapat.pptSheetal Bapat.ppt
Sheetal Bapat.ppt
 
Sheetal Bapat.ppt
Sheetal Bapat.pptSheetal Bapat.ppt
Sheetal Bapat.ppt
 
Sheetal Bapat.ppt
Sheetal Bapat.pptSheetal Bapat.ppt
Sheetal Bapat.ppt
 

More from AMDSeminarSeries

02.16.2014 - Carolina Castilla
02.16.2014 - Carolina Castilla02.16.2014 - Carolina Castilla
02.16.2014 - Carolina CastillaAMDSeminarSeries
 
06.06.2013 - Hoyt Bleakley
06.06.2013 - Hoyt Bleakley06.06.2013 - Hoyt Bleakley
06.06.2013 - Hoyt BleakleyAMDSeminarSeries
 
05.16.2013 - Dilip Mookherjee
05.16.2013 - Dilip Mookherjee05.16.2013 - Dilip Mookherjee
05.16.2013 - Dilip MookherjeeAMDSeminarSeries
 
05.02.2013 - Jonathan Robinson
05.02.2013 - Jonathan Robinson05.02.2013 - Jonathan Robinson
05.02.2013 - Jonathan RobinsonAMDSeminarSeries
 
02.07.2013 - Mark Rosenzweig
02.07.2013 - Mark Rosenzweig02.07.2013 - Mark Rosenzweig
02.07.2013 - Mark RosenzweigAMDSeminarSeries
 
01.17.2013 - Garance Genicot
01.17.2013 - Garance Genicot01.17.2013 - Garance Genicot
01.17.2013 - Garance GenicotAMDSeminarSeries
 
12.10.2012 - Catherine Wolfram
12.10.2012 - Catherine Wolfram12.10.2012 - Catherine Wolfram
12.10.2012 - Catherine WolframAMDSeminarSeries
 
12.06.2012 - Giacomo de Giorgi
12.06.2012 - Giacomo de Giorgi12.06.2012 - Giacomo de Giorgi
12.06.2012 - Giacomo de GiorgiAMDSeminarSeries
 
11.29.2012 - Marta Vicarelli
11.29.2012 - Marta Vicarelli11.29.2012 - Marta Vicarelli
11.29.2012 - Marta VicarelliAMDSeminarSeries
 
10.25.2012 - Craig McIntosh
10.25.2012 - Craig McIntosh10.25.2012 - Craig McIntosh
10.25.2012 - Craig McIntoshAMDSeminarSeries
 
09.27.2012 - Santosh Anagol
09.27.2012 - Santosh Anagol09.27.2012 - Santosh Anagol
09.27.2012 - Santosh AnagolAMDSeminarSeries
 
09.13.2012 - Seema Jayachandran
09.13.2012 - Seema Jayachandran09.13.2012 - Seema Jayachandran
09.13.2012 - Seema JayachandranAMDSeminarSeries
 
08.23.2012 - Karthik Muralidharan
08.23.2012 - Karthik Muralidharan08.23.2012 - Karthik Muralidharan
08.23.2012 - Karthik MuralidharanAMDSeminarSeries
 

More from AMDSeminarSeries (20)

02.16.2014 - Carolina Castilla
02.16.2014 - Carolina Castilla02.16.2014 - Carolina Castilla
02.16.2014 - Carolina Castilla
 
11.07.2013 - Jenny Aker
11.07.2013 - Jenny Aker11.07.2013 - Jenny Aker
11.07.2013 - Jenny Aker
 
09.12.2013 - Esther Duflo
09.12.2013 - Esther Duflo09.12.2013 - Esther Duflo
09.12.2013 - Esther Duflo
 
06.06.2013 - Hoyt Bleakley
06.06.2013 - Hoyt Bleakley06.06.2013 - Hoyt Bleakley
06.06.2013 - Hoyt Bleakley
 
05.16.2013 - Dilip Mookherjee
05.16.2013 - Dilip Mookherjee05.16.2013 - Dilip Mookherjee
05.16.2013 - Dilip Mookherjee
 
05.02.2013 - Jonathan Robinson
05.02.2013 - Jonathan Robinson05.02.2013 - Jonathan Robinson
05.02.2013 - Jonathan Robinson
 
03.20.2013 - Flavio Cunha
03.20.2013 - Flavio Cunha03.20.2013 - Flavio Cunha
03.20.2013 - Flavio Cunha
 
02.21.2013 - Petra Todd
02.21.2013 - Petra Todd02.21.2013 - Petra Todd
02.21.2013 - Petra Todd
 
02.07.2013 - Mark Rosenzweig
02.07.2013 - Mark Rosenzweig02.07.2013 - Mark Rosenzweig
02.07.2013 - Mark Rosenzweig
 
01.17.2013 - Garance Genicot
01.17.2013 - Garance Genicot01.17.2013 - Garance Genicot
01.17.2013 - Garance Genicot
 
12.10.2012 - Catherine Wolfram
12.10.2012 - Catherine Wolfram12.10.2012 - Catherine Wolfram
12.10.2012 - Catherine Wolfram
 
12.06.2012 - Giacomo de Giorgi
12.06.2012 - Giacomo de Giorgi12.06.2012 - Giacomo de Giorgi
12.06.2012 - Giacomo de Giorgi
 
11.29.2012 - Marta Vicarelli
11.29.2012 - Marta Vicarelli11.29.2012 - Marta Vicarelli
11.29.2012 - Marta Vicarelli
 
11.08.2012 - Lori Beaman
11.08.2012 - Lori Beaman11.08.2012 - Lori Beaman
11.08.2012 - Lori Beaman
 
10.25.2012 - Craig McIntosh
10.25.2012 - Craig McIntosh10.25.2012 - Craig McIntosh
10.25.2012 - Craig McIntosh
 
10.11.2012 - Saumitra Jha
10.11.2012 - Saumitra Jha10.11.2012 - Saumitra Jha
10.11.2012 - Saumitra Jha
 
09.27.2012 - Santosh Anagol
09.27.2012 - Santosh Anagol09.27.2012 - Santosh Anagol
09.27.2012 - Santosh Anagol
 
09.13.2012 - Seema Jayachandran
09.13.2012 - Seema Jayachandran09.13.2012 - Seema Jayachandran
09.13.2012 - Seema Jayachandran
 
08.30.2012 - Brian Dillon
08.30.2012 - Brian Dillon08.30.2012 - Brian Dillon
08.30.2012 - Brian Dillon
 
08.23.2012 - Karthik Muralidharan
08.23.2012 - Karthik Muralidharan08.23.2012 - Karthik Muralidharan
08.23.2012 - Karthik Muralidharan
 

Recently uploaded

psychiatric nursing HISTORY COLLECTION .docx
psychiatric nursing HISTORY COLLECTION .docxpsychiatric nursing HISTORY COLLECTION .docx
psychiatric nursing HISTORY COLLECTION .docxPoojaSen20
 
Holdier Curriculum Vitae (April 2024).pdf
Holdier Curriculum Vitae (April 2024).pdfHoldier Curriculum Vitae (April 2024).pdf
Holdier Curriculum Vitae (April 2024).pdfagholdier
 
Beyond the EU: DORA and NIS 2 Directive's Global Impact
Beyond the EU: DORA and NIS 2 Directive's Global ImpactBeyond the EU: DORA and NIS 2 Directive's Global Impact
Beyond the EU: DORA and NIS 2 Directive's Global ImpactPECB
 
Nutritional Needs Presentation - HLTH 104
Nutritional Needs Presentation - HLTH 104Nutritional Needs Presentation - HLTH 104
Nutritional Needs Presentation - HLTH 104misteraugie
 
Key note speaker Neum_Admir Softic_ENG.pdf
Key note speaker Neum_Admir Softic_ENG.pdfKey note speaker Neum_Admir Softic_ENG.pdf
Key note speaker Neum_Admir Softic_ENG.pdfAdmir Softic
 
Mixin Classes in Odoo 17 How to Extend Models Using Mixin Classes
Mixin Classes in Odoo 17 How to Extend Models Using Mixin ClassesMixin Classes in Odoo 17 How to Extend Models Using Mixin Classes
Mixin Classes in Odoo 17 How to Extend Models Using Mixin ClassesCeline George
 
Application orientated numerical on hev.ppt
Application orientated numerical on hev.pptApplication orientated numerical on hev.ppt
Application orientated numerical on hev.pptRamjanShidvankar
 
Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median and Mode
Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median and ModeMeasures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median and Mode
Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median and ModeThiyagu K
 
Unit-IV- Pharma. Marketing Channels.pptx
Unit-IV- Pharma. Marketing Channels.pptxUnit-IV- Pharma. Marketing Channels.pptx
Unit-IV- Pharma. Marketing Channels.pptxVishalSingh1417
 
The basics of sentences session 2pptx copy.pptx
The basics of sentences session 2pptx copy.pptxThe basics of sentences session 2pptx copy.pptx
The basics of sentences session 2pptx copy.pptxheathfieldcps1
 
1029 - Danh muc Sach Giao Khoa 10 . pdf
1029 - Danh muc Sach Giao Khoa 10 . pdf1029 - Danh muc Sach Giao Khoa 10 . pdf
1029 - Danh muc Sach Giao Khoa 10 . pdfQucHHunhnh
 
Russian Escort Service in Delhi 11k Hotel Foreigner Russian Call Girls in Delhi
Russian Escort Service in Delhi 11k Hotel Foreigner Russian Call Girls in DelhiRussian Escort Service in Delhi 11k Hotel Foreigner Russian Call Girls in Delhi
Russian Escort Service in Delhi 11k Hotel Foreigner Russian Call Girls in Delhikauryashika82
 
2024-NATIONAL-LEARNING-CAMP-AND-OTHER.pptx
2024-NATIONAL-LEARNING-CAMP-AND-OTHER.pptx2024-NATIONAL-LEARNING-CAMP-AND-OTHER.pptx
2024-NATIONAL-LEARNING-CAMP-AND-OTHER.pptxMaritesTamaniVerdade
 
ComPTIA Overview | Comptia Security+ Book SY0-701
ComPTIA Overview | Comptia Security+ Book SY0-701ComPTIA Overview | Comptia Security+ Book SY0-701
ComPTIA Overview | Comptia Security+ Book SY0-701bronxfugly43
 
Web & Social Media Analytics Previous Year Question Paper.pdf
Web & Social Media Analytics Previous Year Question Paper.pdfWeb & Social Media Analytics Previous Year Question Paper.pdf
Web & Social Media Analytics Previous Year Question Paper.pdfJayanti Pande
 
TỔNG ÔN TẬP THI VÀO LỚP 10 MÔN TIẾNG ANH NĂM HỌC 2023 - 2024 CÓ ĐÁP ÁN (NGỮ Â...
TỔNG ÔN TẬP THI VÀO LỚP 10 MÔN TIẾNG ANH NĂM HỌC 2023 - 2024 CÓ ĐÁP ÁN (NGỮ Â...TỔNG ÔN TẬP THI VÀO LỚP 10 MÔN TIẾNG ANH NĂM HỌC 2023 - 2024 CÓ ĐÁP ÁN (NGỮ Â...
TỔNG ÔN TẬP THI VÀO LỚP 10 MÔN TIẾNG ANH NĂM HỌC 2023 - 2024 CÓ ĐÁP ÁN (NGỮ Â...Nguyen Thanh Tu Collection
 
1029-Danh muc Sach Giao Khoa khoi 6.pdf
1029-Danh muc Sach Giao Khoa khoi 6.pdf1029-Danh muc Sach Giao Khoa khoi 6.pdf
1029-Danh muc Sach Giao Khoa khoi 6.pdfQucHHunhnh
 
Basic Civil Engineering first year Notes- Chapter 4 Building.pptx
Basic Civil Engineering first year Notes- Chapter 4 Building.pptxBasic Civil Engineering first year Notes- Chapter 4 Building.pptx
Basic Civil Engineering first year Notes- Chapter 4 Building.pptxDenish Jangid
 
Advanced Views - Calendar View in Odoo 17
Advanced Views - Calendar View in Odoo 17Advanced Views - Calendar View in Odoo 17
Advanced Views - Calendar View in Odoo 17Celine George
 

Recently uploaded (20)

psychiatric nursing HISTORY COLLECTION .docx
psychiatric nursing HISTORY COLLECTION .docxpsychiatric nursing HISTORY COLLECTION .docx
psychiatric nursing HISTORY COLLECTION .docx
 
Holdier Curriculum Vitae (April 2024).pdf
Holdier Curriculum Vitae (April 2024).pdfHoldier Curriculum Vitae (April 2024).pdf
Holdier Curriculum Vitae (April 2024).pdf
 
Beyond the EU: DORA and NIS 2 Directive's Global Impact
Beyond the EU: DORA and NIS 2 Directive's Global ImpactBeyond the EU: DORA and NIS 2 Directive's Global Impact
Beyond the EU: DORA and NIS 2 Directive's Global Impact
 
Nutritional Needs Presentation - HLTH 104
Nutritional Needs Presentation - HLTH 104Nutritional Needs Presentation - HLTH 104
Nutritional Needs Presentation - HLTH 104
 
Key note speaker Neum_Admir Softic_ENG.pdf
Key note speaker Neum_Admir Softic_ENG.pdfKey note speaker Neum_Admir Softic_ENG.pdf
Key note speaker Neum_Admir Softic_ENG.pdf
 
Mixin Classes in Odoo 17 How to Extend Models Using Mixin Classes
Mixin Classes in Odoo 17 How to Extend Models Using Mixin ClassesMixin Classes in Odoo 17 How to Extend Models Using Mixin Classes
Mixin Classes in Odoo 17 How to Extend Models Using Mixin Classes
 
Application orientated numerical on hev.ppt
Application orientated numerical on hev.pptApplication orientated numerical on hev.ppt
Application orientated numerical on hev.ppt
 
Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median and Mode
Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median and ModeMeasures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median and Mode
Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median and Mode
 
Unit-IV- Pharma. Marketing Channels.pptx
Unit-IV- Pharma. Marketing Channels.pptxUnit-IV- Pharma. Marketing Channels.pptx
Unit-IV- Pharma. Marketing Channels.pptx
 
The basics of sentences session 2pptx copy.pptx
The basics of sentences session 2pptx copy.pptxThe basics of sentences session 2pptx copy.pptx
The basics of sentences session 2pptx copy.pptx
 
1029 - Danh muc Sach Giao Khoa 10 . pdf
1029 - Danh muc Sach Giao Khoa 10 . pdf1029 - Danh muc Sach Giao Khoa 10 . pdf
1029 - Danh muc Sach Giao Khoa 10 . pdf
 
Russian Escort Service in Delhi 11k Hotel Foreigner Russian Call Girls in Delhi
Russian Escort Service in Delhi 11k Hotel Foreigner Russian Call Girls in DelhiRussian Escort Service in Delhi 11k Hotel Foreigner Russian Call Girls in Delhi
Russian Escort Service in Delhi 11k Hotel Foreigner Russian Call Girls in Delhi
 
2024-NATIONAL-LEARNING-CAMP-AND-OTHER.pptx
2024-NATIONAL-LEARNING-CAMP-AND-OTHER.pptx2024-NATIONAL-LEARNING-CAMP-AND-OTHER.pptx
2024-NATIONAL-LEARNING-CAMP-AND-OTHER.pptx
 
ComPTIA Overview | Comptia Security+ Book SY0-701
ComPTIA Overview | Comptia Security+ Book SY0-701ComPTIA Overview | Comptia Security+ Book SY0-701
ComPTIA Overview | Comptia Security+ Book SY0-701
 
Web & Social Media Analytics Previous Year Question Paper.pdf
Web & Social Media Analytics Previous Year Question Paper.pdfWeb & Social Media Analytics Previous Year Question Paper.pdf
Web & Social Media Analytics Previous Year Question Paper.pdf
 
TỔNG ÔN TẬP THI VÀO LỚP 10 MÔN TIẾNG ANH NĂM HỌC 2023 - 2024 CÓ ĐÁP ÁN (NGỮ Â...
TỔNG ÔN TẬP THI VÀO LỚP 10 MÔN TIẾNG ANH NĂM HỌC 2023 - 2024 CÓ ĐÁP ÁN (NGỮ Â...TỔNG ÔN TẬP THI VÀO LỚP 10 MÔN TIẾNG ANH NĂM HỌC 2023 - 2024 CÓ ĐÁP ÁN (NGỮ Â...
TỔNG ÔN TẬP THI VÀO LỚP 10 MÔN TIẾNG ANH NĂM HỌC 2023 - 2024 CÓ ĐÁP ÁN (NGỮ Â...
 
1029-Danh muc Sach Giao Khoa khoi 6.pdf
1029-Danh muc Sach Giao Khoa khoi 6.pdf1029-Danh muc Sach Giao Khoa khoi 6.pdf
1029-Danh muc Sach Giao Khoa khoi 6.pdf
 
Basic Civil Engineering first year Notes- Chapter 4 Building.pptx
Basic Civil Engineering first year Notes- Chapter 4 Building.pptxBasic Civil Engineering first year Notes- Chapter 4 Building.pptx
Basic Civil Engineering first year Notes- Chapter 4 Building.pptx
 
Advanced Views - Calendar View in Odoo 17
Advanced Views - Calendar View in Odoo 17Advanced Views - Calendar View in Odoo 17
Advanced Views - Calendar View in Odoo 17
 
Asian American Pacific Islander Month DDSD 2024.pptx
Asian American Pacific Islander Month DDSD 2024.pptxAsian American Pacific Islander Month DDSD 2024.pptx
Asian American Pacific Islander Month DDSD 2024.pptx
 

06.20.2013 - Nishith Prakash

  • 1. Cycling to School: Increasing Secondary School Enrollment for Girls in India Karthik Muralidharan 1 Nishith Prakash 2 1University of California-San Diego, NBER, J-PAL, BREAD 2University of Connecticut, IZA, CReAM June 20, 2013 / IFPRI Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 1 / 59
  • 2. Motivation “Investment in girls’ education may well be the highest-return investment available in the developing world.”- Lawrence H. Summers (former Chief Economist of the World Bank) “I think the bicycle has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.”- Susan B. Anthony (19th century leader of US women’s suffrage movement) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 2 / 59
  • 3. Motivation “Investment in girls’ education may well be the highest-return investment available in the developing world.”- Lawrence H. Summers (former Chief Economist of the World Bank) “I think the bicycle has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.”- Susan B. Anthony (19th century leader of US women’s suffrage movement) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 2 / 59
  • 4. Motivation Increasing school attainment of girls is one of the Millennium Development Goals Bridging the gender gap in education is an important policy question Improving female education directly contributes to “Inclusive Growth”: Growth - by increasing human capital of labor force Inclusive - by allowing people to participate in the growth process Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 3 / 59
  • 5. Motivation Increasing school attainment of girls is one of the Millennium Development Goals Bridging the gender gap in education is an important policy question Improving female education directly contributes to “Inclusive Growth”: Growth - by increasing human capital of labor force Inclusive - by allowing people to participate in the growth process Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 3 / 59
  • 6. Motivation Increasing school attainment of girls is one of the Millennium Development Goals Bridging the gender gap in education is an important policy question Improving female education directly contributes to “Inclusive Growth”: Growth - by increasing human capital of labor force Inclusive - by allowing people to participate in the growth process Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 3 / 59
  • 7. Status of Education in India Larger gender gaps in India (and especially in Bihar) in school attendance (grows with age) Primary schools now exist within 1 km of most villages But distance is still an important barrier to secondary school attendance (again, more so for girls) Bihar was among the lowest mean levels of education (IHDS 2005) Girls/Boys enrollment ratio in Bihar (2007-08): 93% in Class 1 80% in Class 5 69% in Class 8 62% in Class 9 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 4 / 59
  • 8. Status of Education in India Larger gender gaps in India (and especially in Bihar) in school attendance (grows with age) Primary schools now exist within 1 km of most villages But distance is still an important barrier to secondary school attendance (again, more so for girls) Bihar was among the lowest mean levels of education (IHDS 2005) Girls/Boys enrollment ratio in Bihar (2007-08): 93% in Class 1 80% in Class 5 69% in Class 8 62% in Class 9 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 4 / 59
  • 9. Status of Education in India Larger gender gaps in India (and especially in Bihar) in school attendance (grows with age) Primary schools now exist within 1 km of most villages But distance is still an important barrier to secondary school attendance (again, more so for girls) Bihar was among the lowest mean levels of education (IHDS 2005) Girls/Boys enrollment ratio in Bihar (2007-08): 93% in Class 1 80% in Class 5 69% in Class 8 62% in Class 9 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 4 / 59
  • 10. School Enrollment by Age & Gender Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 5 / 59
  • 11. Enrollment of 14-15 year olds in Secondary School by Distance & Gender Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 6 / 59
  • 12. Summary Gender gap in educational attainment is more pronounced in Bihar relative to the all India figures The drop off in girls’ enrollment is particularly pronounced at age 14, which is the time of transition to secondary schooling The probability of 14 and 15 year olds being enrolled in school steadily declines as the distance to the nearest secondary school increases both in the all India data as well as in Bihar Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 7 / 59
  • 13. Summary Gender gap in educational attainment is more pronounced in Bihar relative to the all India figures The drop off in girls’ enrollment is particularly pronounced at age 14, which is the time of transition to secondary schooling The probability of 14 and 15 year olds being enrolled in school steadily declines as the distance to the nearest secondary school increases both in the all India data as well as in Bihar Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 7 / 59
  • 14. Summary Gender gap in educational attainment is more pronounced in Bihar relative to the all India figures The drop off in girls’ enrollment is particularly pronounced at age 14, which is the time of transition to secondary schooling The probability of 14 and 15 year olds being enrolled in school steadily declines as the distance to the nearest secondary school increases both in the all India data as well as in Bihar Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 7 / 59
  • 15. School Access vs. Scale in India The default approach to school access is in terms of school construction Ongoing national campaign to expand access to secondary schooling via school construction and expansion (RSMA) Expensive Takes time to build new schools There exists trade-off between access and scale Secondary School Access vs. scale trade-off of first order concern here! Requires qualified and specialized teachers Not obvious if improving school access should always take the form of school construction Need to think of cost-effective scalable policy to improve access to secondary education Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 8 / 59
  • 16. School Access vs. Scale in India The default approach to school access is in terms of school construction Ongoing national campaign to expand access to secondary schooling via school construction and expansion (RSMA) Expensive Takes time to build new schools There exists trade-off between access and scale Secondary School Access vs. scale trade-off of first order concern here! Requires qualified and specialized teachers Not obvious if improving school access should always take the form of school construction Need to think of cost-effective scalable policy to improve access to secondary education Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 8 / 59
  • 17. School Access vs. Scale in India The default approach to school access is in terms of school construction Ongoing national campaign to expand access to secondary schooling via school construction and expansion (RSMA) Expensive Takes time to build new schools There exists trade-off between access and scale Secondary School Access vs. scale trade-off of first order concern here! Requires qualified and specialized teachers Not obvious if improving school access should always take the form of school construction Need to think of cost-effective scalable policy to improve access to secondary education Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 8 / 59
  • 18. School Access vs. Scale in India The default approach to school access is in terms of school construction Ongoing national campaign to expand access to secondary schooling via school construction and expansion (RSMA) Expensive Takes time to build new schools There exists trade-off between access and scale Secondary School Access vs. scale trade-off of first order concern here! Requires qualified and specialized teachers Not obvious if improving school access should always take the form of school construction Need to think of cost-effective scalable policy to improve access to secondary education Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 8 / 59
  • 19. School Access vs. Scale in India The default approach to school access is in terms of school construction Ongoing national campaign to expand access to secondary schooling via school construction and expansion (RSMA) Expensive Takes time to build new schools There exists trade-off between access and scale Secondary School Access vs. scale trade-off of first order concern here! Requires qualified and specialized teachers Not obvious if improving school access should always take the form of school construction Need to think of cost-effective scalable policy to improve access to secondary education Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 8 / 59
  • 20. School Access vs. Scale in India The default approach to school access is in terms of school construction Ongoing national campaign to expand access to secondary schooling via school construction and expansion (RSMA) Expensive Takes time to build new schools There exists trade-off between access and scale Secondary School Access vs. scale trade-off of first order concern here! Requires qualified and specialized teachers Not obvious if improving school access should always take the form of school construction Need to think of cost-effective scalable policy to improve access to secondary education Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 8 / 59
  • 21. School Access vs. Scale in India The default approach to school access is in terms of school construction Ongoing national campaign to expand access to secondary schooling via school construction and expansion (RSMA) Expensive Takes time to build new schools There exists trade-off between access and scale Secondary School Access vs. scale trade-off of first order concern here! Requires qualified and specialized teachers Not obvious if improving school access should always take the form of school construction Need to think of cost-effective scalable policy to improve access to secondary education Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 8 / 59
  • 22. Policy Intervention In 2006, the Govt. of Bihar initiated a program to provide cycles to all girls studying in grade 9 Personal initiative of the Chief Minister Program was called the “Cycle Program” An allocation of Rs. 2000/student was made (now Rs. 2500, ≈ $46) High-profile program, politically very visible (and also copied) No direct provision of cycles–cash provided to eligible students through the schools, and receipts for purchase of cycles were collected (not a typical CCT that goes to HH budget) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 9 / 59
  • 23. Policy Intervention In 2006, the Govt. of Bihar initiated a program to provide cycles to all girls studying in grade 9 Personal initiative of the Chief Minister Program was called the “Cycle Program” An allocation of Rs. 2000/student was made (now Rs. 2500, ≈ $46) High-profile program, politically very visible (and also copied) No direct provision of cycles–cash provided to eligible students through the schools, and receipts for purchase of cycles were collected (not a typical CCT that goes to HH budget) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 9 / 59
  • 24. Policy Intervention Unique hybrid of demand and supply-sided intervention Enrollment conditionality resembles a traditional CCT But cycles improve school access by reducing the distance cost of attendance (also allows economies of scale in school quality) This was effectively a CKT program and was one of India’s first scaled up CT program for girls’ secondary education Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 10 / 59
  • 25. Policy Intervention Unique hybrid of demand and supply-sided intervention Enrollment conditionality resembles a traditional CCT But cycles improve school access by reducing the distance cost of attendance (also allows economies of scale in school quality) This was effectively a CKT program and was one of India’s first scaled up CT program for girls’ secondary education Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 10 / 59
  • 26. Policy in Action Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 11 / 59
  • 27. Policy in Action Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 12 / 59
  • 28. Interview with School Principal Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 13 / 59
  • 29. Research Questions What is the impact of exposure to cycle program on secondary school enrollment for girls? Disentangle the mechanisms through which policy affects outcomes (conditionality vs. cycle)? What are the impacts on learning outcomes? Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 14 / 59
  • 30. Research Questions What is the impact of exposure to cycle program on secondary school enrollment for girls? Disentangle the mechanisms through which policy affects outcomes (conditionality vs. cycle)? What are the impacts on learning outcomes? Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 14 / 59
  • 31. Research Questions What is the impact of exposure to cycle program on secondary school enrollment for girls? Disentangle the mechanisms through which policy affects outcomes (conditionality vs. cycle)? What are the impacts on learning outcomes? Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 14 / 59
  • 32. Preview of Main Results Cycle program increased the age-appropriate secondary school enrollment of girls by 5.2 percentage points Most of the treatment effect appears to be coming from villages where the nearest secondary school is more than 3 km away The triple difference non-parametric plot as a function of distance to the nearest secondary school has an inverted-U shape The program had a modest positive impact on percentage of girls’ appearing for grade 10 exam The program had no impact on percentage of girls’ passing grade 10 exam Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 15 / 59
  • 33. Preview of Main Results Cycle program increased the age-appropriate secondary school enrollment of girls by 5.2 percentage points Most of the treatment effect appears to be coming from villages where the nearest secondary school is more than 3 km away The triple difference non-parametric plot as a function of distance to the nearest secondary school has an inverted-U shape The program had a modest positive impact on percentage of girls’ appearing for grade 10 exam The program had no impact on percentage of girls’ passing grade 10 exam Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 15 / 59
  • 34. Preview of Main Results Cycle program increased the age-appropriate secondary school enrollment of girls by 5.2 percentage points Most of the treatment effect appears to be coming from villages where the nearest secondary school is more than 3 km away The triple difference non-parametric plot as a function of distance to the nearest secondary school has an inverted-U shape The program had a modest positive impact on percentage of girls’ appearing for grade 10 exam The program had no impact on percentage of girls’ passing grade 10 exam Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 15 / 59
  • 35. Preview of Main Results Cycle program increased the age-appropriate secondary school enrollment of girls by 5.2 percentage points Most of the treatment effect appears to be coming from villages where the nearest secondary school is more than 3 km away The triple difference non-parametric plot as a function of distance to the nearest secondary school has an inverted-U shape The program had a modest positive impact on percentage of girls’ appearing for grade 10 exam The program had no impact on percentage of girls’ passing grade 10 exam Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 15 / 59
  • 36. Preview of Main Results Cycle program increased the age-appropriate secondary school enrollment of girls by 5.2 percentage points Most of the treatment effect appears to be coming from villages where the nearest secondary school is more than 3 km away The triple difference non-parametric plot as a function of distance to the nearest secondary school has an inverted-U shape The program had a modest positive impact on percentage of girls’ appearing for grade 10 exam The program had no impact on percentage of girls’ passing grade 10 exam Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 15 / 59
  • 37. Contributions and Policy Implication Rigorously evaluates the effectiveness of one of India’s first scaled up CCT/CKT program for girls’ secondary education Answers the question of whether ‘distance cost’ reduces gender gap in enrollment and attainment Relevant not just for India but other developing countries This paper also makes a methodological contribution to the program evaluation literature by demonstrating the feasibility of credible impact evaluations even in contexts of universal program roll out Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 16 / 59
  • 38. Contributions and Policy Implication Rigorously evaluates the effectiveness of one of India’s first scaled up CCT/CKT program for girls’ secondary education Answers the question of whether ‘distance cost’ reduces gender gap in enrollment and attainment Relevant not just for India but other developing countries This paper also makes a methodological contribution to the program evaluation literature by demonstrating the feasibility of credible impact evaluations even in contexts of universal program roll out Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 16 / 59
  • 39. Contributions and Policy Implication Rigorously evaluates the effectiveness of one of India’s first scaled up CCT/CKT program for girls’ secondary education Answers the question of whether ‘distance cost’ reduces gender gap in enrollment and attainment Relevant not just for India but other developing countries This paper also makes a methodological contribution to the program evaluation literature by demonstrating the feasibility of credible impact evaluations even in contexts of universal program roll out Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 16 / 59
  • 40. Contributions and Policy Implication Rigorously evaluates the effectiveness of one of India’s first scaled up CCT/CKT program for girls’ secondary education Answers the question of whether ‘distance cost’ reduces gender gap in enrollment and attainment Relevant not just for India but other developing countries This paper also makes a methodological contribution to the program evaluation literature by demonstrating the feasibility of credible impact evaluations even in contexts of universal program roll out Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 16 / 59
  • 41. Brief Related Literature School Access: Impact of school construction programs have found positive effects on enrollment (Duflo 2001, Burde and Linden 2012, Kazianga et al. 2012) Access to roads increases enrollment (Mukherjee 2011) Trade-off between access and scale (Muralidharan et al. 2013, Jacob, Kochar, and Reddy 2008, De Haan, Leuven, and Osterbeek 2011) Conditional Transfers: CCT programs have found a positive impact on girls’ education enrollment and attainment (Fiszbein and Schady 2009) Methodological: Bleakley (2007), Hornbeck (2010), Duflo (2001), Jayachandran & Lleras-Muney (2008) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 17 / 59
  • 42. Brief Related Literature School Access: Impact of school construction programs have found positive effects on enrollment (Duflo 2001, Burde and Linden 2012, Kazianga et al. 2012) Access to roads increases enrollment (Mukherjee 2011) Trade-off between access and scale (Muralidharan et al. 2013, Jacob, Kochar, and Reddy 2008, De Haan, Leuven, and Osterbeek 2011) Conditional Transfers: CCT programs have found a positive impact on girls’ education enrollment and attainment (Fiszbein and Schady 2009) Methodological: Bleakley (2007), Hornbeck (2010), Duflo (2001), Jayachandran & Lleras-Muney (2008) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 17 / 59
  • 43. Brief Related Literature School Access: Impact of school construction programs have found positive effects on enrollment (Duflo 2001, Burde and Linden 2012, Kazianga et al. 2012) Access to roads increases enrollment (Mukherjee 2011) Trade-off between access and scale (Muralidharan et al. 2013, Jacob, Kochar, and Reddy 2008, De Haan, Leuven, and Osterbeek 2011) Conditional Transfers: CCT programs have found a positive impact on girls’ education enrollment and attainment (Fiszbein and Schady 2009) Methodological: Bleakley (2007), Hornbeck (2010), Duflo (2001), Jayachandran & Lleras-Muney (2008) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 17 / 59
  • 44. Outline of Today’s Talk Data & Outcome Measures Identification and Empirical Framework Main Findings Robustness Checks Discussion Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 18 / 59
  • 45. Data Sources District-Level Health Survey (DLHS) Data 2008 Survey conducted ≈1.5 years after Cycle program launched Representative sample of approximately 1,000 HH/district (total sample of close to 50,000 HH across Bihar/Jharkhand) Family roster with education histories Village data includes distance to nearest secondary school We also collect official data on student learning outcomes using appearance/passing on 10th grade board exam Also collect official school enrollment data (for testing trends only) ASER 2008 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 19 / 59
  • 46. Data Sources District-Level Health Survey (DLHS) Data 2008 Survey conducted ≈1.5 years after Cycle program launched Representative sample of approximately 1,000 HH/district (total sample of close to 50,000 HH across Bihar/Jharkhand) Family roster with education histories Village data includes distance to nearest secondary school We also collect official data on student learning outcomes using appearance/passing on 10th grade board exam Also collect official school enrollment data (for testing trends only) ASER 2008 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 19 / 59
  • 47. Data Sources District-Level Health Survey (DLHS) Data 2008 Survey conducted ≈1.5 years after Cycle program launched Representative sample of approximately 1,000 HH/district (total sample of close to 50,000 HH across Bihar/Jharkhand) Family roster with education histories Village data includes distance to nearest secondary school We also collect official data on student learning outcomes using appearance/passing on 10th grade board exam Also collect official school enrollment data (for testing trends only) ASER 2008 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 19 / 59
  • 48. Outcome Measures Enrollment outcome Dummy variable if a student is enrolled in or completed grade 9 Learning outcomes: grade 10 performance Log of number of students appearing for grade 10 exam (aggregate at school level) Log of number of students who passed grade 10 exam (aggregate at school level) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 20 / 59
  • 49. Empirical Challenges Identification: Main challenge for the empirical analysis is that the program was implemented state-wide and so it is difficult to find a control group The program was launched across the full state of Bihar at a time of high growth, improving law and order, and plausibly increasing rates of return to education Address this by employing triple difference Risk of over-reporting of girls’ enrollment in administrative data in response to the Cycle program: Use large household data to mitigate this risk Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 21 / 59
  • 50. Empirical Challenges Identification: Main challenge for the empirical analysis is that the program was implemented state-wide and so it is difficult to find a control group The program was launched across the full state of Bihar at a time of high growth, improving law and order, and plausibly increasing rates of return to education Address this by employing triple difference Risk of over-reporting of girls’ enrollment in administrative data in response to the Cycle program: Use large household data to mitigate this risk Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 21 / 59
  • 51. Empirical Challenges Identification: Main challenge for the empirical analysis is that the program was implemented state-wide and so it is difficult to find a control group The program was launched across the full state of Bihar at a time of high growth, improving law and order, and plausibly increasing rates of return to education Address this by employing triple difference Risk of over-reporting of girls’ enrollment in administrative data in response to the Cycle program: Use large household data to mitigate this risk Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 21 / 59
  • 52. Empirical Challenges Identification: Main challenge for the empirical analysis is that the program was implemented state-wide and so it is difficult to find a control group The program was launched across the full state of Bihar at a time of high growth, improving law and order, and plausibly increasing rates of return to education Address this by employing triple difference Risk of over-reporting of girls’ enrollment in administrative data in response to the Cycle program: Use large household data to mitigate this risk Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 21 / 59
  • 53. Empirical Challenges Identification: Main challenge for the empirical analysis is that the program was implemented state-wide and so it is difficult to find a control group The program was launched across the full state of Bihar at a time of high growth, improving law and order, and plausibly increasing rates of return to education Address this by employing triple difference Risk of over-reporting of girls’ enrollment in administrative data in response to the Cycle program: Use large household data to mitigate this risk Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 21 / 59
  • 54. Empirical Challenges Identification: Main challenge for the empirical analysis is that the program was implemented state-wide and so it is difficult to find a control group The program was launched across the full state of Bihar at a time of high growth, improving law and order, and plausibly increasing rates of return to education Address this by employing triple difference Risk of over-reporting of girls’ enrollment in administrative data in response to the Cycle program: Use large household data to mitigate this risk Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 21 / 59
  • 55. Difference in Difference We treat 14-15 year olds as ‘treated’ cohorts (exposed to the program) and 16-17 year olds as ‘control’ cohorts (not exposed to the program) – [as in Duflo 2001] 14-15 vs.16-17 year old girls (first difference) Compare with corresponding difference for boys (second difference) Boys are exposed to similar changes in Bihar but are NOT eligible for the cycle program (for e.g. increasing household incomes and increased public investment in education) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 22 / 59
  • 56. Difference in Difference We treat 14-15 year olds as ‘treated’ cohorts (exposed to the program) and 16-17 year olds as ‘control’ cohorts (not exposed to the program) – [as in Duflo 2001] 14-15 vs.16-17 year old girls (first difference) Compare with corresponding difference for boys (second difference) Boys are exposed to similar changes in Bihar but are NOT eligible for the cycle program (for e.g. increasing household incomes and increased public investment in education) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 22 / 59
  • 57. Difference in Difference We treat 14-15 year olds as ‘treated’ cohorts (exposed to the program) and 16-17 year olds as ‘control’ cohorts (not exposed to the program) – [as in Duflo 2001] 14-15 vs.16-17 year old girls (first difference) Compare with corresponding difference for boys (second difference) Boys are exposed to similar changes in Bihar but are NOT eligible for the cycle program (for e.g. increasing household incomes and increased public investment in education) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 22 / 59
  • 58. Difference in Difference We treat 14-15 year olds as ‘treated’ cohorts (exposed to the program) and 16-17 year olds as ‘control’ cohorts (not exposed to the program) – [as in Duflo 2001] 14-15 vs.16-17 year old girls (first difference) Compare with corresponding difference for boys (second difference) Boys are exposed to similar changes in Bihar but are NOT eligible for the cycle program (for e.g. increasing household incomes and increased public investment in education) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 22 / 59
  • 59. Estimating Equation yihv = β0 + β1Female dummyihv ∗ Treatihv + β2Female dummyihv + β3Treatihv + γX + eihv (1) where yihv is the outcome variable of interest corresponding to child i, in household h and village v X = control variables (social groups, religion, household level characteristics, and village level characteristics) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 23 / 59
  • 60. Descriptive Statistics Full Sample Bihar Jharkhand PANEL A: Dependent variable Enrolled in or completed grade 9 (Among 14-17 year olds) 0.378 0.309 0.337 (0.485) (0.462) (0.473) PANEL B: Key independent variables Treatment group = Child age 14 & 15 (Among 14-17 year olds) 0.545 0.543 0.586 (0.498) (0.498) (0.493) Female dummy 0.476 0.485 0.473 (0.499) (0.500) (0.499) PANEL C: Demographic controls Social group: Scheduled caste 0.191 0.190 0.136 (0.393) (0.393) (0.343) Social group: Scheduled tribes 0.075 0.022 0.361 (0.263) (0.145) (0.480) Social group: Other backward caste 0.547 0.588 0.423 (0.498) (0.492) (0.494) Social group: Hindu 0.814 0.846 0.646 (0.389) (0.361) (0.478) Social group: Muslim 0.142 0.151 0.118 (0.349) (0.358) (0.323) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 24 / 59
  • 61. Difference in Difference Estimate for the Exposure of Cycle Program on Girl’s Enrollment Dependent variable=Enrolled in or completed grade 9 (1) (2) (3) (4) Treat×Female dummy 0.123*** 0.114*** 0.0908*** 0.0904*** (0.0149) (0.0144) (0.0135) (0.0134) Treat -0.192*** -0.184*** -0.167*** -0.166*** (0.0108) (0.0106) (0.00992) (0.00992) Female dummy -0.186*** -0.178*** -0.168*** -0.167*** (0.0117) (0.0112) (0.0103) (0.0103) Constant 0.475*** 0.823*** 0.487*** 0.502*** (0.00980) (0.0831) (0.0622) (0.0673) Demographic controls NO YES YES YES HH level and literacy controls NO NO YES YES Village level controls NO NO NO YES Observations 18,453 18,453 18,353 18,331 R-squared 0.038 0.106 0.225 0.227 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 25 / 59
  • 62. Parallel Trend Assumption for Difference in Difference Treating the double-difference estimate as causal requires that there were parallel trends in boys and girls enrollment prior to the program Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 26 / 59
  • 63. Do Parallel Trends Hold? We reject the parallel trend assumption Half of the increase in enrollment would have happened anyway! Grade 9 Dependent variable=Log(Enrollment) School Level (1) Female Dummy×Year 0.0518*** (0.00476) Female Dummy -0.870*** (0.0631) Pre Year 0.0852*** (0.00539) Constant 4.235*** (0.0492) Observations 20,266 R-squared 0.167 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 27 / 59
  • 64. Parallel Trend Assumption for Triple Difference We compare the double difference estimate in the state of Bihar (the treated state), with the same estimate for the state of Jharkhand (the control state), which is a neighboring state which was a part of the state of Bihar till recently, and only separated administratively in 2001 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 28 / 59
  • 65. Do Parallel Trends Hold? Fail to reject the parallel trend assumption Grade 9 Dependent variable=Log(Enrollment) School Level (1) Female Dummy×Year×Bihar dummy -0.0100 (0.0120) Female Dummy×Year 0.0618*** (0.0111) Female Dummy×Bihar dummy 0.175 (0.110) Bihar dummy×Year 0.0290** (0.0129) Female dummy -1.045*** (0.0900) Time trend 0.0562*** (0.0117) Bihar dummy -0.123 (0.118) Constant 4.358*** (0.108) Observations 22,279 R-squared 0.171 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 29 / 59
  • 66. Triple Difference Compare double difference across Bihar & Jharkhand (triple difference) The triple difference is our preferred estimate of program impact Estimating equation: yihv = β0 + β1Treatihv ∗ Female dummyihv ∗ Bihar + β2Treatihv ∗ Female dummyihv + β3Treatihv ∗ Bihar + β4Female dummyihv ∗ Bihar + β5Treatihv + β6Female dummyihv + β7Bihar + γX + eihv (2) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 30 / 59
  • 67. Triple Difference Estimate for the Exposure of Cycle Program on Girl’s Enrollment Dependent variable=Enrolled in or completed grade 9 (1) (2) (3) (4) Treat×Female dummy×Bihar dummy 0.103*** 0.0912*** 0.0525** 0.0523** (0.0302) (0.0294) (0.0252) (0.0253) Treat×Female dummy 0.0195 0.0235 0.0380* 0.0381* (0.0263) (0.0256) (0.0214) (0.0215) Treat×Bihar dummy -0.0437** -0.0418** -0.0290* -0.0281* (0.0179) (0.0177) (0.0160) (0.0161) Female dummy×Bihar dummy -0.0942*** -0.0905*** -0.0686*** -0.0673*** (0.0233) (0.0226) (0.0200) (0.0201) Treat -0.148*** -0.143*** -0.138*** -0.138*** (0.0143) (0.0142) (0.0127) (0.0127) Female dummy -0.0915*** -0.0880*** -0.0986*** -0.0994*** (0.0202) (0.0196) (0.0172) (0.0172) Bihar dummy 0.0115 -0.0437*** -0.0247* -0.0378** (0.0163) (0.0165) (0.0146) (0.0148) Demographic controls NO YES YES YES HH level and literacy controls NO NO YES YES Village level controls NO NO NO YES Constant 0.464*** 0.771*** 0.503*** 0.463*** (0.0130) (0.0240) (0.0240) (0.0393) Observations 30,295 30,295 30,147 30,112 R-squared 0.035 0.088 0.208 0.210 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 31 / 59
  • 68. Summary of Results Exposure to the Cycle program increased the age-appropriate secondary school enrollment of girls by 5.2 percentage points (or 40% increase on a base of 13%) The age-appropriate secondary school enrollment rate for boys was 26 percent Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 32 / 59
  • 69. Summary of Results Exposure to the Cycle program increased the age-appropriate secondary school enrollment of girls by 5.2 percentage points (or 40% increase on a base of 13%) The age-appropriate secondary school enrollment rate for boys was 26 percent Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 32 / 59
  • 70. Mechanisms Even if we find an effect, there may be multiple mechanisms Conditionality, cycle, third factors (other programs, returns) If the channel of impact is that the cycle reduces the ‘distance cost’ of attending school, then we should see a larger impact in villages where the nearest secondary school is further away (data lets us test this) Compare triple difference by whether a village was above/below median distance to school (quadruple difference) Plot triple-difference by distance (non-parametric) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 33 / 59
  • 71. Mechanisms Even if we find an effect, there may be multiple mechanisms Conditionality, cycle, third factors (other programs, returns) If the channel of impact is that the cycle reduces the ‘distance cost’ of attending school, then we should see a larger impact in villages where the nearest secondary school is further away (data lets us test this) Compare triple difference by whether a village was above/below median distance to school (quadruple difference) Plot triple-difference by distance (non-parametric) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 33 / 59
  • 72. Mechanisms Even if we find an effect, there may be multiple mechanisms Conditionality, cycle, third factors (other programs, returns) If the channel of impact is that the cycle reduces the ‘distance cost’ of attending school, then we should see a larger impact in villages where the nearest secondary school is further away (data lets us test this) Compare triple difference by whether a village was above/below median distance to school (quadruple difference) Plot triple-difference by distance (non-parametric) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 33 / 59
  • 73. Mechanisms Even if we find an effect, there may be multiple mechanisms Conditionality, cycle, third factors (other programs, returns) If the channel of impact is that the cycle reduces the ‘distance cost’ of attending school, then we should see a larger impact in villages where the nearest secondary school is further away (data lets us test this) Compare triple difference by whether a village was above/below median distance to school (quadruple difference) Plot triple-difference by distance (non-parametric) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 33 / 59
  • 74. Sketch of Mechanism of Impact Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 34 / 59
  • 75. Prediction Returns to secondary school does not vary by distance but cost does This suggests maximum impact at the ‘intermediate’ range of distance to school Predicts an inverted U-shaped from a model where the cycle reduces costs of schooling proportional to the distance to school (but where the absolute cost of attendance is still too high to attend at very large distances) Low impact at short and long distances Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 35 / 59
  • 76. Prediction Returns to secondary school does not vary by distance but cost does This suggests maximum impact at the ‘intermediate’ range of distance to school Predicts an inverted U-shaped from a model where the cycle reduces costs of schooling proportional to the distance to school (but where the absolute cost of attendance is still too high to attend at very large distances) Low impact at short and long distances Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 35 / 59
  • 77. Prediction Returns to secondary school does not vary by distance but cost does This suggests maximum impact at the ‘intermediate’ range of distance to school Predicts an inverted U-shaped from a model where the cycle reduces costs of schooling proportional to the distance to school (but where the absolute cost of attendance is still too high to attend at very large distances) Low impact at short and long distances Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 35 / 59
  • 78. Distribution of Villages by Distance to Nearest Secondary School 0.05.1.15.2 Density 0 5 10 15 20 25 Distance to Secondary School (KM) Bihar 0.1.2.3 Density 0 5 10 15 20 25 Distance to Secondary School (KM) Population Weighted Bihar 0.05.1.15 Density 0 5 10 15 20 25 Distance to Secondary School (KM) Jharkhand 0.05.1.15 Density 0 5 10 15 20 25 Distance to Secondary School (KM) Population Weighted Jharkhand Figure 2: Distribution of Villages by Distance to Nearest Secondary School Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 36 / 59
  • 79. Quadruple Difference: The Impact of Distance to Secondary School on Girl’s Enrollment Dependent variable=Enrolled in or completed grade 9 (1) (2) (3) (4) Treat×Female dummy×Bihar dummy×Long distance 0.0940 0.0875 0.0898* 0.0882* (0.0578) (0.0560) (0.0503) (0.0502) Treat×Female dummy×Long distance -0.0788 -0.0803* -0.0745* -0.0733* (0.0496) (0.0480) (0.0427) (0.0426) Treat×Female dummy×Bihar dummy 0.0426 0.0338 -0.00504 -0.00420 (0.0410) (0.0394) (0.0376) (0.0376) Female dummy×Bihar dummy×Long distance -0.0826* -0.0746* -0.0698* -0.0695* (0.0450) (0.0433) (0.0393) (0.0391) Treat×Bihar dummy×Long distance -0.0285 -0.0254 -0.00856 -0.00790 (0.0363) (0.0356) (0.0328) (0.0328) Demographic controls NO YES YES YES HH level and literacy controls NO NO YES YES Village level controls NO NO NO YES Constant 0.513*** 0.816*** 0.530*** 0.487*** (0.0228) (0.0279) (0.0271) (0.0410) Observations 30295 30295 30147 30112 R-squared 0.039 0.091 0.209 0.210 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 37 / 59
  • 80. Non-Parametric DD by Distance Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 38 / 59
  • 81. Non-Parametric DDD by Distance Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 39 / 59
  • 82. What did we Learn? Important to have state level controls as parallel trend is rejected Considerable catching up at all distances in Bihar Positive DD estimates in Jharkhand at all distances ⇒ girls’ age-appropriate secondary school enrollment catching up If there is generic catching up ⇒ more likely to happen more when secondary schools close by DD estimate insignificant at most distance above 5 km Not much going on the conditionality side The conditionality should have an impact at every distance Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 40 / 59
  • 83. What did we Learn? Important to have state level controls as parallel trend is rejected Considerable catching up at all distances in Bihar Positive DD estimates in Jharkhand at all distances ⇒ girls’ age-appropriate secondary school enrollment catching up If there is generic catching up ⇒ more likely to happen more when secondary schools close by DD estimate insignificant at most distance above 5 km Not much going on the conditionality side The conditionality should have an impact at every distance Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 40 / 59
  • 84. What did we Learn? Important to have state level controls as parallel trend is rejected Considerable catching up at all distances in Bihar Positive DD estimates in Jharkhand at all distances ⇒ girls’ age-appropriate secondary school enrollment catching up If there is generic catching up ⇒ more likely to happen more when secondary schools close by DD estimate insignificant at most distance above 5 km Not much going on the conditionality side The conditionality should have an impact at every distance Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 40 / 59
  • 85. What did we Learn? Important to have state level controls as parallel trend is rejected Considerable catching up at all distances in Bihar Positive DD estimates in Jharkhand at all distances ⇒ girls’ age-appropriate secondary school enrollment catching up If there is generic catching up ⇒ more likely to happen more when secondary schools close by DD estimate insignificant at most distance above 5 km Not much going on the conditionality side The conditionality should have an impact at every distance Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 40 / 59
  • 86. What did we Learn? Important to have state level controls as parallel trend is rejected Considerable catching up at all distances in Bihar Positive DD estimates in Jharkhand at all distances ⇒ girls’ age-appropriate secondary school enrollment catching up If there is generic catching up ⇒ more likely to happen more when secondary schools close by DD estimate insignificant at most distance above 5 km Not much going on the conditionality side The conditionality should have an impact at every distance Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 40 / 59
  • 87. What did we Learn? Important to have state level controls as parallel trend is rejected Considerable catching up at all distances in Bihar Positive DD estimates in Jharkhand at all distances ⇒ girls’ age-appropriate secondary school enrollment catching up If there is generic catching up ⇒ more likely to happen more when secondary schools close by DD estimate insignificant at most distance above 5 km Not much going on the conditionality side The conditionality should have an impact at every distance Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 40 / 59
  • 88. Summary of Results Almost all the program impacts are found in villages that are over 3 km away from a secondary school (with the point estimate of treatment effects in villages that are closer being close to zero) The main mechanism of program impact is not the conditionality, but rather the reduction of the distance cost of attending school The triple difference non-parametric plot as a function of distance to the nearest secondary school has an inverted-U shape DDD estimates are positive and significant at distances between 5 and 13 kms ⇒ intermediate range of distance to school at which we would see a positive effect Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 41 / 59
  • 89. Summary of Results Almost all the program impacts are found in villages that are over 3 km away from a secondary school (with the point estimate of treatment effects in villages that are closer being close to zero) The main mechanism of program impact is not the conditionality, but rather the reduction of the distance cost of attending school The triple difference non-parametric plot as a function of distance to the nearest secondary school has an inverted-U shape DDD estimates are positive and significant at distances between 5 and 13 kms ⇒ intermediate range of distance to school at which we would see a positive effect Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 41 / 59
  • 90. Robustness-I Further concern: Improvements in roads & law and order in Bihar would also have a greater impact on girls’ school participation than boys This impact may be greater as a function of distance to a secondary school If these improvements also differentially reduce the cost of girls’ secondary school participation proportional to the distance in the same way that the bicycle may have ⇒ our estimates could be confounding the impact of these other improvements with that of the cycle program Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 42 / 59
  • 91. Robustness-I Further concern: Improvements in roads & law and order in Bihar would also have a greater impact on girls’ school participation than boys This impact may be greater as a function of distance to a secondary school If these improvements also differentially reduce the cost of girls’ secondary school participation proportional to the distance in the same way that the bicycle may have ⇒ our estimates could be confounding the impact of these other improvements with that of the cycle program Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 42 / 59
  • 92. Robustness-I Further concern: Improvements in roads & law and order in Bihar would also have a greater impact on girls’ school participation than boys This impact may be greater as a function of distance to a secondary school If these improvements also differentially reduce the cost of girls’ secondary school participation proportional to the distance in the same way that the bicycle may have ⇒ our estimates could be confounding the impact of these other improvements with that of the cycle program Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 42 / 59
  • 93. Robustness-I Address this concern by conducting a placebo test: Estimate triple-difference impact of exposure to the cycle program on the probability of girls’ age appropriate enrollment in (or completion of) the eighth grade Improvements in roads, law and order, and safety should affect girls in this cohort in comparable ways Girls in eighth grade were not eligible for the cycle program Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 43 / 59
  • 94. Robustness-I Address this concern by conducting a placebo test: Estimate triple-difference impact of exposure to the cycle program on the probability of girls’ age appropriate enrollment in (or completion of) the eighth grade Improvements in roads, law and order, and safety should affect girls in this cohort in comparable ways Girls in eighth grade were not eligible for the cycle program Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 43 / 59
  • 95. Robustness-I Address this concern by conducting a placebo test: Estimate triple-difference impact of exposure to the cycle program on the probability of girls’ age appropriate enrollment in (or completion of) the eighth grade Improvements in roads, law and order, and safety should affect girls in this cohort in comparable ways Girls in eighth grade were not eligible for the cycle program Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 43 / 59
  • 96. Robustness-I Address this concern by conducting a placebo test: Estimate triple-difference impact of exposure to the cycle program on the probability of girls’ age appropriate enrollment in (or completion of) the eighth grade Improvements in roads, law and order, and safety should affect girls in this cohort in comparable ways Girls in eighth grade were not eligible for the cycle program Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 43 / 59
  • 97. Triple Difference Estimate for the Exposure of Cycle Program on Girl’s Enrollment in 8th Grade Dependent variable=Enrolled in or completed grade 8 (1) (2) (3) (4) Treat×Female dummy×Bihar dummy 0.0111 -0.00226 0.00235 0.00189 (0.0237) (0.0229) (0.0214) (0.0215) Treat×Female dummy 0.0259 0.0384** 0.0462*** 0.0457*** (0.0184) (0.0178) (0.0169) (0.0170) Treat×Bihar dummy -0.00940 -0.00699 -0.00968 -0.00957 (0.0184) (0.0180) (0.0164) (0.0164) Female dummy×Bihar dummy -0.0380** -0.0350** -0.0365** -0.0352** (0.0184) (0.0176) (0.0168) (0.0168) Treat -0.151*** -0.155*** -0.154*** -0.154*** (0.0152) (0.0149) (0.0133) (0.0134) Female dummy -0.0956*** -0.0950*** -0.101*** -0.101*** (0.0148) (0.0141) (0.0137) (0.0137) Bihar dummy -0.0438*** -0.105*** -0.0779*** -0.0891*** (0.0163) (0.0165) (0.0146) (0.0148) Demographic controls NO YES YES YES HH level and literacy controls NO NO YES YES Village level controls NO NO NO YES Constant 0.522*** 0.818*** 0.549*** 0.532*** (0.0130) (0.0240) (0.0240) (0.0393) Observations 33,179 33,179 33,012 32,972 R-squared 0.038 0.089 0.202 0.203 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 44 / 59
  • 98. Robustness-II Border Districts: Restrict the sample for our main triple-difference estimates to just the border districts in Bihar and Jharkhand Point estimates are practically indistinguishable from those in the full sample Triple difference analysis requires very large samples to have adequate power Duflo (2001) used Indonesia intercensal survey dataset Replicating this using Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS-3) yields positive point estimates on the impact of school construction on education attainment, but these are insignificant because of the considerably smaller sample size Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 45 / 59
  • 99. Robustness-II Border Districts: Restrict the sample for our main triple-difference estimates to just the border districts in Bihar and Jharkhand Point estimates are practically indistinguishable from those in the full sample Triple difference analysis requires very large samples to have adequate power Duflo (2001) used Indonesia intercensal survey dataset Replicating this using Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS-3) yields positive point estimates on the impact of school construction on education attainment, but these are insignificant because of the considerably smaller sample size Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 45 / 59
  • 100. Robustness-II Border Districts: Restrict the sample for our main triple-difference estimates to just the border districts in Bihar and Jharkhand Point estimates are practically indistinguishable from those in the full sample Triple difference analysis requires very large samples to have adequate power Duflo (2001) used Indonesia intercensal survey dataset Replicating this using Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS-3) yields positive point estimates on the impact of school construction on education attainment, but these are insignificant because of the considerably smaller sample size Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 45 / 59
  • 101. Robustness-II Border Districts: Restrict the sample for our main triple-difference estimates to just the border districts in Bihar and Jharkhand Point estimates are practically indistinguishable from those in the full sample Triple difference analysis requires very large samples to have adequate power Duflo (2001) used Indonesia intercensal survey dataset Replicating this using Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS-3) yields positive point estimates on the impact of school construction on education attainment, but these are insignificant because of the considerably smaller sample size Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 45 / 59
  • 102. Robustness-II Border Districts: Restrict the sample for our main triple-difference estimates to just the border districts in Bihar and Jharkhand Point estimates are practically indistinguishable from those in the full sample Triple difference analysis requires very large samples to have adequate power Duflo (2001) used Indonesia intercensal survey dataset Replicating this using Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS-3) yields positive point estimates on the impact of school construction on education attainment, but these are insignificant because of the considerably smaller sample size Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 45 / 59
  • 103. Robustness-II Border Districts: Restrict the sample for our main triple-difference estimates to just the border districts in Bihar and Jharkhand Point estimates are practically indistinguishable from those in the full sample Triple difference analysis requires very large samples to have adequate power Duflo (2001) used Indonesia intercensal survey dataset Replicating this using Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS-3) yields positive point estimates on the impact of school construction on education attainment, but these are insignificant because of the considerably smaller sample size Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 45 / 59
  • 104. Triple Difference Estimate for the Exposure of Cycle Program on Girl’s Enrollment (Border Districts Only) Dependent variable=Enrolled in or completed grade 9 (1) (2) (3) (4) Treat×Female dummy×Bihar dummy 0.0985** 0.0946** 0.0592* 0.0563 (0.0407) (0.0385) (0.0357) (0.0356) Treat×Female dummy 0.0400 0.0412* 0.0485** 0.0484** (0.0267) (0.0242) (0.0230) (0.0232) Treat×Bihar dummy -0.0683** -0.0740** -0.0726*** -0.0698*** (0.0295) (0.0288) (0.0268) (0.0267) Female dummy×Bihar dummy -0.0876*** -0.0945*** -0.0618** -0.0591** (0.0338) (0.0320) (0.0295) (0.0295) Treat -0.154*** -0.146*** -0.138*** -0.139*** (0.0177) (0.0167) (0.0158) (0.0158) Female dummy -0.115*** -0.108*** -0.117*** -0.118*** (0.0233) (0.0218) (0.0213) (0.0214) Bihar dummy 0.0195 -0.0152 -0.000376 -0.0116 (0.0288) (0.0277) (0.0237) (0.0234) Demographic controls NO YES YES YES HH level and literacy controls NO NO YES YES Village level controls NO NO NO YES Constant 0.449*** 0.612*** 0.387*** 0.292*** (0.0185) (0.0411) (0.0408) (0.0588) Observations 9939 9939 9899 9886 R-squared 0.040 0.093 0.219 0.222 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 46 / 59
  • 105. Robustness-III Cluster the standard errors at the district level: The coefficients on the triple interaction terms continue to be significant in all four specifications Clustering is at village level in DLHS-3 Spillovers: If boys reduce schooling (undertake more chores) because their sisters go to school ⇒ estimates bias upwards Less likely in a patriarchal culture of rural Bihar We plot single difference for boys and girls for Bihar by distance No noticeable pattern for boys Inverted-U for girls Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 47 / 59
  • 106. Robustness-III Cluster the standard errors at the district level: The coefficients on the triple interaction terms continue to be significant in all four specifications Clustering is at village level in DLHS-3 Spillovers: If boys reduce schooling (undertake more chores) because their sisters go to school ⇒ estimates bias upwards Less likely in a patriarchal culture of rural Bihar We plot single difference for boys and girls for Bihar by distance No noticeable pattern for boys Inverted-U for girls Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 47 / 59
  • 107. Robustness-III Cluster the standard errors at the district level: The coefficients on the triple interaction terms continue to be significant in all four specifications Clustering is at village level in DLHS-3 Spillovers: If boys reduce schooling (undertake more chores) because their sisters go to school ⇒ estimates bias upwards Less likely in a patriarchal culture of rural Bihar We plot single difference for boys and girls for Bihar by distance No noticeable pattern for boys Inverted-U for girls Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 47 / 59
  • 108. Robustness-III Cluster the standard errors at the district level: The coefficients on the triple interaction terms continue to be significant in all four specifications Clustering is at village level in DLHS-3 Spillovers: If boys reduce schooling (undertake more chores) because their sisters go to school ⇒ estimates bias upwards Less likely in a patriarchal culture of rural Bihar We plot single difference for boys and girls for Bihar by distance No noticeable pattern for boys Inverted-U for girls Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 47 / 59
  • 109. Robustness-III Cluster the standard errors at the district level: The coefficients on the triple interaction terms continue to be significant in all four specifications Clustering is at village level in DLHS-3 Spillovers: If boys reduce schooling (undertake more chores) because their sisters go to school ⇒ estimates bias upwards Less likely in a patriarchal culture of rural Bihar We plot single difference for boys and girls for Bihar by distance No noticeable pattern for boys Inverted-U for girls Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 47 / 59
  • 110. Robustness-III Cluster the standard errors at the district level: The coefficients on the triple interaction terms continue to be significant in all four specifications Clustering is at village level in DLHS-3 Spillovers: If boys reduce schooling (undertake more chores) because their sisters go to school ⇒ estimates bias upwards Less likely in a patriarchal culture of rural Bihar We plot single difference for boys and girls for Bihar by distance No noticeable pattern for boys Inverted-U for girls Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 47 / 59
  • 111. Robustness-III Cluster the standard errors at the district level: The coefficients on the triple interaction terms continue to be significant in all four specifications Clustering is at village level in DLHS-3 Spillovers: If boys reduce schooling (undertake more chores) because their sisters go to school ⇒ estimates bias upwards Less likely in a patriarchal culture of rural Bihar We plot single difference for boys and girls for Bihar by distance No noticeable pattern for boys Inverted-U for girls Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 47 / 59
  • 112. Robustness-III Cluster the standard errors at the district level: The coefficients on the triple interaction terms continue to be significant in all four specifications Clustering is at village level in DLHS-3 Spillovers: If boys reduce schooling (undertake more chores) because their sisters go to school ⇒ estimates bias upwards Less likely in a patriarchal culture of rural Bihar We plot single difference for boys and girls for Bihar by distance No noticeable pattern for boys Inverted-U for girls Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 47 / 59
  • 113. Are Effects Heterogenous? Many of the large scale public policy programs in developing countries have heterogeneous effects Despite the cycle program’s universality and the fact that it was not targeted towards specific groups, castes, or religions, it may still have heterogenous effects Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 48 / 59
  • 114. Heterogeneity in the Exposure of the Cycle Program on Girls’ Enrollment Treatment group = Age 14 and 15 Full School > 3 km Control group = Age 16 and 17 sample away (1) (2) Triple Difference Coefficient Treat×Female×Bihar×Asset Index 0.00317 0.0452 (0.0240) (0.0353) Treat×Female×Bihar×SES Index 0.0107 0.00827 (0.0182) (0.0250) Treat×Female×Bihar×OBC vs. General 0.0344 -0.0345 (0.0816) (0.103) Treat×Female×Bihar×SC vs. General -0.0498 -0.0873 (0.0949) (0.121) Treat×Female×Bihar×ST vs. General -0.0652 -0.177 (0.114) (0.130) Treat×Female×Bihar×Muslim vs. General 0.0413 0.0107 (0.105) (0.136) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 49 / 59
  • 115. What are the Impacts on Learning Outcomes? We found positive impact of the exposure to the Cycle program on girls enrollment in secondary school The next logical step is to look at the impact of the cycle program on learning outcomes Log(Appeared) Log(Passed) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 50 / 59
  • 116. What are the Impacts on Learning Outcomes? We found positive impact of the exposure to the Cycle program on girls enrollment in secondary school The next logical step is to look at the impact of the cycle program on learning outcomes Log(Appeared) Log(Passed) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 50 / 59
  • 117. What are the Impacts on Learning Outcomes? We found positive impact of the exposure to the Cycle program on girls enrollment in secondary school The next logical step is to look at the impact of the cycle program on learning outcomes Log(Appeared) Log(Passed) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 50 / 59
  • 118. Estimates of Exposure of the Cycle Program on Performance in Grade 10 Exam (School Level) Dependent Variable Log(Appeared) Log(Passed) (1) (2) PANEL A: DD Estimates Female Dummy×Post 0.304*** 0.215*** (0.0239) (0.0302) Observations 32172 31995 R-squared 0.195 0.168 PANEL B: DDD Estimates Female Dummy×Bihar×Post 0.0946** 0.00103 (0.0399) (0.0449) Observations 45564 45215 R-squared 0.162 0.144 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 51 / 59
  • 119. Triple Difference Estimates of Exposure of the Cycle Program on Test Scores Treatment group = Age 14 and 15 Parents (1) + Household (2) + Village Control group = Age 16 education controls controls (1) (2) (3) PANEL A: Impact of Cycle Program on Girl’s Enrollment Dependent variable: Enrollment dummy Treat×Female dummy×Bihar dummy 0.0488 0.0504 0.0600 (0.0509) (0.0521) (0.0616) PANEL B: Impact of Cycle Program on Girl’s Test Scores Dependent variable: girl student can do two-digit subtraction Treat×Female dummy×Bihar dummy 0.00258 0.00448 0.0411 (0.0334) (0.0346) (0.0413) Dependent variable: girl student can do division (3-by-1 form) Treat×Female dummy×Bihar dummy 0.0107 0.0105 -0.00771 (0.0460) (0.0465) (0.0536) Dependent variable: girl student can read Std. 1 level text Treat×Female dummy×Bihar dummy 0.0293 0.0408 0.0478 (0.0280) (0.0287) (0.0349) Dependent variable: girl student can read Std. 2 level text Treat×Female dummy×Bihar dummy -0.00781 -0.0164 -0.00634 (0.0444) (0.0452) (0.0502) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 52 / 59
  • 120. Summary of Results We find that exposure to the cycle program increased the number of girls appearing for the SSC exam by 9.5% (significant at the 5% level) No increase in the number of girls who passed the SSC exam Results consistent with other evaluations of conditional transfer programs in developing countries (especially Latin America) that find significant impacts on enrollment but typically find no impacts on learning outcomes Verify triple difference results using ASER 2008 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 53 / 59
  • 121. Summary of Results We find that exposure to the cycle program increased the number of girls appearing for the SSC exam by 9.5% (significant at the 5% level) No increase in the number of girls who passed the SSC exam Results consistent with other evaluations of conditional transfer programs in developing countries (especially Latin America) that find significant impacts on enrollment but typically find no impacts on learning outcomes Verify triple difference results using ASER 2008 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 53 / 59
  • 122. Summary of Results We find that exposure to the cycle program increased the number of girls appearing for the SSC exam by 9.5% (significant at the 5% level) No increase in the number of girls who passed the SSC exam Results consistent with other evaluations of conditional transfer programs in developing countries (especially Latin America) that find significant impacts on enrollment but typically find no impacts on learning outcomes Verify triple difference results using ASER 2008 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 53 / 59
  • 123. Summary of Results We find that exposure to the cycle program increased the number of girls appearing for the SSC exam by 9.5% (significant at the 5% level) No increase in the number of girls who passed the SSC exam Results consistent with other evaluations of conditional transfer programs in developing countries (especially Latin America) that find significant impacts on enrollment but typically find no impacts on learning outcomes Verify triple difference results using ASER 2008 Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 53 / 59
  • 124. Summary of Results Potential Explanations: The program provided an incentive for enrollment but not for achievement The girls induced to stay in school are likely to have been drawn from the lower end of the eighth grade test score distribution ⇒ less likely to pass the strict standards of the externally-graded SSC exam Investments in school quality did not keep pace with the increase in demand ⇒ may have led to a reduction in per-student school quality Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 54 / 59
  • 125. Summary of Results Potential Explanations: The program provided an incentive for enrollment but not for achievement The girls induced to stay in school are likely to have been drawn from the lower end of the eighth grade test score distribution ⇒ less likely to pass the strict standards of the externally-graded SSC exam Investments in school quality did not keep pace with the increase in demand ⇒ may have led to a reduction in per-student school quality Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 54 / 59
  • 126. Summary of Results Potential Explanations: The program provided an incentive for enrollment but not for achievement The girls induced to stay in school are likely to have been drawn from the lower end of the eighth grade test score distribution ⇒ less likely to pass the strict standards of the externally-graded SSC exam Investments in school quality did not keep pace with the increase in demand ⇒ may have led to a reduction in per-student school quality Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 54 / 59
  • 127. Summary of Results Potential Explanations: The program provided an incentive for enrollment but not for achievement The girls induced to stay in school are likely to have been drawn from the lower end of the eighth grade test score distribution ⇒ less likely to pass the strict standards of the externally-graded SSC exam Investments in school quality did not keep pace with the increase in demand ⇒ may have led to a reduction in per-student school quality Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 54 / 59
  • 128. Cost Effectiveness Compare our estimates to CCT program in Pakistan (Chaudhury and Parajuli 2010) Girls’s stipend program ($3/month per recipient) increased female enrollment in grade 6–8 (between 2003–2005) by 9 percent (4 percentage points on a base of 43%) Cycle program ($2/month per recipient) increased female enrollment by 40 percent (5 percentage points on a base of 13%) Female dropout much bigger challenge at secondary level vs. middle level Cycle program had both a higher absolute impact and higher impact relative to base enrollment rates compared to the Stipend program Cycle program more cost-effective than comparable CCT Likely to be more cost-effective for girls who live further away from a secondary school Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 55 / 59
  • 129. Cost Effectiveness Compare our estimates to CCT program in Pakistan (Chaudhury and Parajuli 2010) Girls’s stipend program ($3/month per recipient) increased female enrollment in grade 6–8 (between 2003–2005) by 9 percent (4 percentage points on a base of 43%) Cycle program ($2/month per recipient) increased female enrollment by 40 percent (5 percentage points on a base of 13%) Female dropout much bigger challenge at secondary level vs. middle level Cycle program had both a higher absolute impact and higher impact relative to base enrollment rates compared to the Stipend program Cycle program more cost-effective than comparable CCT Likely to be more cost-effective for girls who live further away from a secondary school Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 55 / 59
  • 130. Cost Effectiveness Compare our estimates to CCT program in Pakistan (Chaudhury and Parajuli 2010) Girls’s stipend program ($3/month per recipient) increased female enrollment in grade 6–8 (between 2003–2005) by 9 percent (4 percentage points on a base of 43%) Cycle program ($2/month per recipient) increased female enrollment by 40 percent (5 percentage points on a base of 13%) Female dropout much bigger challenge at secondary level vs. middle level Cycle program had both a higher absolute impact and higher impact relative to base enrollment rates compared to the Stipend program Cycle program more cost-effective than comparable CCT Likely to be more cost-effective for girls who live further away from a secondary school Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 55 / 59
  • 131. Cost Effectiveness Compare our estimates to CCT program in Pakistan (Chaudhury and Parajuli 2010) Girls’s stipend program ($3/month per recipient) increased female enrollment in grade 6–8 (between 2003–2005) by 9 percent (4 percentage points on a base of 43%) Cycle program ($2/month per recipient) increased female enrollment by 40 percent (5 percentage points on a base of 13%) Female dropout much bigger challenge at secondary level vs. middle level Cycle program had both a higher absolute impact and higher impact relative to base enrollment rates compared to the Stipend program Cycle program more cost-effective than comparable CCT Likely to be more cost-effective for girls who live further away from a secondary school Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 55 / 59
  • 132. Cost Effectiveness Compare our estimates to CCT program in Pakistan (Chaudhury and Parajuli 2010) Girls’s stipend program ($3/month per recipient) increased female enrollment in grade 6–8 (between 2003–2005) by 9 percent (4 percentage points on a base of 43%) Cycle program ($2/month per recipient) increased female enrollment by 40 percent (5 percentage points on a base of 13%) Female dropout much bigger challenge at secondary level vs. middle level Cycle program had both a higher absolute impact and higher impact relative to base enrollment rates compared to the Stipend program Cycle program more cost-effective than comparable CCT Likely to be more cost-effective for girls who live further away from a secondary school Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 55 / 59
  • 133. Cost Effectiveness Compare our estimates to CCT program in Pakistan (Chaudhury and Parajuli 2010) Girls’s stipend program ($3/month per recipient) increased female enrollment in grade 6–8 (between 2003–2005) by 9 percent (4 percentage points on a base of 43%) Cycle program ($2/month per recipient) increased female enrollment by 40 percent (5 percentage points on a base of 13%) Female dropout much bigger challenge at secondary level vs. middle level Cycle program had both a higher absolute impact and higher impact relative to base enrollment rates compared to the Stipend program Cycle program more cost-effective than comparable CCT Likely to be more cost-effective for girls who live further away from a secondary school Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 55 / 59
  • 134. Cost Effectiveness Compare our estimates to CCT program in Pakistan (Chaudhury and Parajuli 2010) Girls’s stipend program ($3/month per recipient) increased female enrollment in grade 6–8 (between 2003–2005) by 9 percent (4 percentage points on a base of 43%) Cycle program ($2/month per recipient) increased female enrollment by 40 percent (5 percentage points on a base of 13%) Female dropout much bigger challenge at secondary level vs. middle level Cycle program had both a higher absolute impact and higher impact relative to base enrollment rates compared to the Stipend program Cycle program more cost-effective than comparable CCT Likely to be more cost-effective for girls who live further away from a secondary school Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 55 / 59
  • 135. Cash vs. Kind Transfers as a Tool for Social Policy Under what circumstances may in-kind transfer do better than equivalent cash transfer? Cycle for an adolescent girl was unlikely to be infra-marginal to pre-program household spending ⇒ difficult to substitute away (Das et al. 2013) Bicycle directly reduced the marginal cost of schooling on a daily basis relative to general cash transfer (augments household budget) Why might a household not use cash transfer to buy a bicycle on their own if this was a binding constraint? Household still face credit constraint ⇒ difficult to transform small monthly transfers into an expensive capital good (need to pay upfront) In-kind provision changes the default of what the money is spent on, and removes the transfer from sphere of intra-household bargaining Individual versus Group provision: Positive spillovers, group externalities (greater safety when girls cycle together, change in social norms) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 56 / 59
  • 136. Cash vs. Kind Transfers as a Tool for Social Policy Under what circumstances may in-kind transfer do better than equivalent cash transfer? Cycle for an adolescent girl was unlikely to be infra-marginal to pre-program household spending ⇒ difficult to substitute away (Das et al. 2013) Bicycle directly reduced the marginal cost of schooling on a daily basis relative to general cash transfer (augments household budget) Why might a household not use cash transfer to buy a bicycle on their own if this was a binding constraint? Household still face credit constraint ⇒ difficult to transform small monthly transfers into an expensive capital good (need to pay upfront) In-kind provision changes the default of what the money is spent on, and removes the transfer from sphere of intra-household bargaining Individual versus Group provision: Positive spillovers, group externalities (greater safety when girls cycle together, change in social norms) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 56 / 59
  • 137. Cash vs. Kind Transfers as a Tool for Social Policy Under what circumstances may in-kind transfer do better than equivalent cash transfer? Cycle for an adolescent girl was unlikely to be infra-marginal to pre-program household spending ⇒ difficult to substitute away (Das et al. 2013) Bicycle directly reduced the marginal cost of schooling on a daily basis relative to general cash transfer (augments household budget) Why might a household not use cash transfer to buy a bicycle on their own if this was a binding constraint? Household still face credit constraint ⇒ difficult to transform small monthly transfers into an expensive capital good (need to pay upfront) In-kind provision changes the default of what the money is spent on, and removes the transfer from sphere of intra-household bargaining Individual versus Group provision: Positive spillovers, group externalities (greater safety when girls cycle together, change in social norms) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 56 / 59
  • 138. Cash vs. Kind Transfers as a Tool for Social Policy Under what circumstances may in-kind transfer do better than equivalent cash transfer? Cycle for an adolescent girl was unlikely to be infra-marginal to pre-program household spending ⇒ difficult to substitute away (Das et al. 2013) Bicycle directly reduced the marginal cost of schooling on a daily basis relative to general cash transfer (augments household budget) Why might a household not use cash transfer to buy a bicycle on their own if this was a binding constraint? Household still face credit constraint ⇒ difficult to transform small monthly transfers into an expensive capital good (need to pay upfront) In-kind provision changes the default of what the money is spent on, and removes the transfer from sphere of intra-household bargaining Individual versus Group provision: Positive spillovers, group externalities (greater safety when girls cycle together, change in social norms) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 56 / 59
  • 139. Cash vs. Kind Transfers as a Tool for Social Policy Under what circumstances may in-kind transfer do better than equivalent cash transfer? Cycle for an adolescent girl was unlikely to be infra-marginal to pre-program household spending ⇒ difficult to substitute away (Das et al. 2013) Bicycle directly reduced the marginal cost of schooling on a daily basis relative to general cash transfer (augments household budget) Why might a household not use cash transfer to buy a bicycle on their own if this was a binding constraint? Household still face credit constraint ⇒ difficult to transform small monthly transfers into an expensive capital good (need to pay upfront) In-kind provision changes the default of what the money is spent on, and removes the transfer from sphere of intra-household bargaining Individual versus Group provision: Positive spillovers, group externalities (greater safety when girls cycle together, change in social norms) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 56 / 59
  • 140. Cash vs. Kind Transfers as a Tool for Social Policy Under what circumstances may in-kind transfer do better than equivalent cash transfer? Cycle for an adolescent girl was unlikely to be infra-marginal to pre-program household spending ⇒ difficult to substitute away (Das et al. 2013) Bicycle directly reduced the marginal cost of schooling on a daily basis relative to general cash transfer (augments household budget) Why might a household not use cash transfer to buy a bicycle on their own if this was a binding constraint? Household still face credit constraint ⇒ difficult to transform small monthly transfers into an expensive capital good (need to pay upfront) In-kind provision changes the default of what the money is spent on, and removes the transfer from sphere of intra-household bargaining Individual versus Group provision: Positive spillovers, group externalities (greater safety when girls cycle together, change in social norms) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 56 / 59
  • 141. Cash vs. Kind Transfers as a Tool for Social Policy Under what circumstances may in-kind transfer do better than equivalent cash transfer? Cycle for an adolescent girl was unlikely to be infra-marginal to pre-program household spending ⇒ difficult to substitute away (Das et al. 2013) Bicycle directly reduced the marginal cost of schooling on a daily basis relative to general cash transfer (augments household budget) Why might a household not use cash transfer to buy a bicycle on their own if this was a binding constraint? Household still face credit constraint ⇒ difficult to transform small monthly transfers into an expensive capital good (need to pay upfront) In-kind provision changes the default of what the money is spent on, and removes the transfer from sphere of intra-household bargaining Individual versus Group provision: Positive spillovers, group externalities (greater safety when girls cycle together, change in social norms) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 56 / 59
  • 142. Cash vs. Kind Transfers as a Tool for Social Policy Under what circumstances may in-kind transfer do better than equivalent cash transfer? Cycle for an adolescent girl was unlikely to be infra-marginal to pre-program household spending ⇒ difficult to substitute away (Das et al. 2013) Bicycle directly reduced the marginal cost of schooling on a daily basis relative to general cash transfer (augments household budget) Why might a household not use cash transfer to buy a bicycle on their own if this was a binding constraint? Household still face credit constraint ⇒ difficult to transform small monthly transfers into an expensive capital good (need to pay upfront) In-kind provision changes the default of what the money is spent on, and removes the transfer from sphere of intra-household bargaining Individual versus Group provision: Positive spillovers, group externalities (greater safety when girls cycle together, change in social norms) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 56 / 59
  • 143. Historical Perspective Role played by bicycles in enhancing the mobility, freedom, and independence of women in the 19th century Cycle program can also empower girls’ beyond school attendance by increasing their mobility and independence This suggests an additional reason for why an in-kind transfer like the bicycle may in this context be more effective at improving female education outcomes Households in strongly patriarchal settings like rural Bihar may be more inclined to direct the girl’s share towards consumption (or saving for marriage) than to make investments for girls (such as a bicycle) Investments in girls (e.g. bicycle) can dynamically improve their bargaining power over time in their communities (Basu 2006) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 57 / 59
  • 144. Historical Perspective Role played by bicycles in enhancing the mobility, freedom, and independence of women in the 19th century Cycle program can also empower girls’ beyond school attendance by increasing their mobility and independence This suggests an additional reason for why an in-kind transfer like the bicycle may in this context be more effective at improving female education outcomes Households in strongly patriarchal settings like rural Bihar may be more inclined to direct the girl’s share towards consumption (or saving for marriage) than to make investments for girls (such as a bicycle) Investments in girls (e.g. bicycle) can dynamically improve their bargaining power over time in their communities (Basu 2006) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 57 / 59
  • 145. Historical Perspective Role played by bicycles in enhancing the mobility, freedom, and independence of women in the 19th century Cycle program can also empower girls’ beyond school attendance by increasing their mobility and independence This suggests an additional reason for why an in-kind transfer like the bicycle may in this context be more effective at improving female education outcomes Households in strongly patriarchal settings like rural Bihar may be more inclined to direct the girl’s share towards consumption (or saving for marriage) than to make investments for girls (such as a bicycle) Investments in girls (e.g. bicycle) can dynamically improve their bargaining power over time in their communities (Basu 2006) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 57 / 59
  • 146. Historical Perspective Role played by bicycles in enhancing the mobility, freedom, and independence of women in the 19th century Cycle program can also empower girls’ beyond school attendance by increasing their mobility and independence This suggests an additional reason for why an in-kind transfer like the bicycle may in this context be more effective at improving female education outcomes Households in strongly patriarchal settings like rural Bihar may be more inclined to direct the girl’s share towards consumption (or saving for marriage) than to make investments for girls (such as a bicycle) Investments in girls (e.g. bicycle) can dynamically improve their bargaining power over time in their communities (Basu 2006) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 57 / 59
  • 147. Historical Perspective Role played by bicycles in enhancing the mobility, freedom, and independence of women in the 19th century Cycle program can also empower girls’ beyond school attendance by increasing their mobility and independence This suggests an additional reason for why an in-kind transfer like the bicycle may in this context be more effective at improving female education outcomes Households in strongly patriarchal settings like rural Bihar may be more inclined to direct the girl’s share towards consumption (or saving for marriage) than to make investments for girls (such as a bicycle) Investments in girls (e.g. bicycle) can dynamically improve their bargaining power over time in their communities (Basu 2006) Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 57 / 59
  • 148. Summary of Results Impact of exposure to the Cycle program suggest that it increased girls age-appropriate enrollment in secondary schools by 5 percentage points On a base of 13%, this is a 40% increase in enrollment Exposure to the Cycle program had a greater impact for girls who lived further away from a secondary school A key mechanism for program impact was the reduction in the ‘distance cost’ of school attendance for girls due to the cycle Modest impact on learning outcomes (consistent with CT literature) Program was at least as cost-effective as other comparable ones Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 58 / 59
  • 149. Summary of Results Impact of exposure to the Cycle program suggest that it increased girls age-appropriate enrollment in secondary schools by 5 percentage points On a base of 13%, this is a 40% increase in enrollment Exposure to the Cycle program had a greater impact for girls who lived further away from a secondary school A key mechanism for program impact was the reduction in the ‘distance cost’ of school attendance for girls due to the cycle Modest impact on learning outcomes (consistent with CT literature) Program was at least as cost-effective as other comparable ones Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 58 / 59
  • 150. Summary of Results Impact of exposure to the Cycle program suggest that it increased girls age-appropriate enrollment in secondary schools by 5 percentage points On a base of 13%, this is a 40% increase in enrollment Exposure to the Cycle program had a greater impact for girls who lived further away from a secondary school A key mechanism for program impact was the reduction in the ‘distance cost’ of school attendance for girls due to the cycle Modest impact on learning outcomes (consistent with CT literature) Program was at least as cost-effective as other comparable ones Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 58 / 59
  • 151. Summary of Results Impact of exposure to the Cycle program suggest that it increased girls age-appropriate enrollment in secondary schools by 5 percentage points On a base of 13%, this is a 40% increase in enrollment Exposure to the Cycle program had a greater impact for girls who lived further away from a secondary school A key mechanism for program impact was the reduction in the ‘distance cost’ of school attendance for girls due to the cycle Modest impact on learning outcomes (consistent with CT literature) Program was at least as cost-effective as other comparable ones Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 58 / 59
  • 152. Summary of Results Impact of exposure to the Cycle program suggest that it increased girls age-appropriate enrollment in secondary schools by 5 percentage points On a base of 13%, this is a 40% increase in enrollment Exposure to the Cycle program had a greater impact for girls who lived further away from a secondary school A key mechanism for program impact was the reduction in the ‘distance cost’ of school attendance for girls due to the cycle Modest impact on learning outcomes (consistent with CT literature) Program was at least as cost-effective as other comparable ones Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 58 / 59
  • 153. Policy Implications and Future Research Implications for cash vs. kind transfers–kind may work well when: There is a direct reduction in the marginal cost of schooling The in-kind item is NOT infra-marginal to household spending It helps the input ‘stick’ to the recipient as opposed to be subject to intra household bargaining/allocation Possibly an evidence supporting cost-effective scalable policy to improve access to secondary education without compromising on scale Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 59 / 59
  • 154. Policy Implications and Future Research Implications for cash vs. kind transfers–kind may work well when: There is a direct reduction in the marginal cost of schooling The in-kind item is NOT infra-marginal to household spending It helps the input ‘stick’ to the recipient as opposed to be subject to intra household bargaining/allocation Possibly an evidence supporting cost-effective scalable policy to improve access to secondary education without compromising on scale Muralidharan & Prakash Cycling to School 59 / 59