Incentives to Learn

Project Overview:
This study examines the impact of a girls' scholarship program in rural Kenya. While most education research focuses on the effects of material inputs, class size, or school organization, the most important input affecting educational outcomes may be children's study effort. However, the impact of performance incentives to boost student effort has been relatively unexplored in both economics and education.

This randomized trial examines a girls' scholarship program introduced in rural Kenya, intended to enhance girls' education. Out of a set of 128 schools in Busia and Teso districts of western Kenya, half were randomly chosen as schools eligible for the program. The program consisted of a merit-based scholarship awarded to girls in two districts of Western Kenya who scored in the top 15 percent on tests administered by the Kenyan government. One portion of the scholarship was paid directly to the school for school fees, the other portion to the family for school supplies and uniforms.

The design of the program allowed researchers to establish whether the introduction of such scholarships affects the performance of either the eligible students (girls) or ineligible students (boys) in the program schools.

Sample:
128 primary schools in Busia and Teso districts in Kenya's Western Province

Main results:

• Girls eligible for the scholarship showed significant gains in academic exam scores (an average gain of 0.15 standard deviations).
• Girls showed large gains (an average gain of 0.22-0.27 standard deviations), and these gains persisted one full year following the competition.
• There is also evidence of positive program externalities on learning: boys (who were ineligible for the awards) also showed sizeable average test gains.
• Both student and teacher attendance increased in the program schools.
• Scholarship winners were 7 percent more likely to rate themselves as a "good student" than girls who did not win the scholarship.

Principal Investigators:
Michael Kremer (Harvard), Edward Miguel, and Rebecca Thornton (Harvard)

Working Papers:

Michael Kremer, Edward Miguel, and Rebecca Thornton. 2005. Incentives to Learn.

In the News:

Forbes article "On My Mind: Cash Talks", November 2003

Education Next article "Incentives to Learn" by Michael Kremer, Edward Miguel, and Rebecca Thornton