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Adapting the Supply of Education to the Needs of Girls: Evidence from a Policy Experiment in Rural India

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  • Marian Meller
  • Stephan Litschig

Abstract

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of a large-scale government initiative (NPEGEL/KGBV) that provided earmarked funds for addressing girls’ special needs to public schools in rural India. Our empirical strategy exploits local variation in program eligibility around a threshold based on the female literacy rate at the community level. The main result is that the program led to an enrollment gain of about six to seven percentage points for girls in upper primary school. Evidence of an enrollment gain for boys is tentative. Available evidence on mechanisms suggests that the program improved girl-friendly school infrastructure and services as well as gender-neutral school resources.

Suggested Citation

  • Marian Meller & Stephan Litschig, 2016. "Adapting the Supply of Education to the Needs of Girls: Evidence from a Policy Experiment in Rural India," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 51(3), pages 760-802.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:51:y:2016:i:3:p:760-802
    Note: DOI: doi:10.3368/jhr.51.3.0612-5000R
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    Cited by:

    1. Stephanie Psaki & Nicole Haberland & Barbara Mensch & Lauren Woyczynski & Erica Chuang, 2022. "Policies and interventions to remove gender‐related barriers to girls' school participation and learning in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review of the evidence," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(1), March.
    2. Harounan Kazianga & Francis Makamu, 2017. "Crop Choice, School Participation, and Child Labor in Developing Countries: Cotton Expansion in Burkina Faso," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 99(1), pages 34-54.
    3. Ahmed Elsayed & Olivier Marie, 2020. "Less School (Costs), More (Female) Education? Lessons from Egypt Reducing Years of Compulsory Schooling," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 20-037/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    4. Chatterjee Somdeep, 2017. "Getting Girls to Schools! – Assessing the Impacts of a Targeted Program on Enrollment and Academic Performance," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(1), pages 1-6, February.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O22 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Project Analysis

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