Long-Term Educational Consequences of Secondary School Vouchers: Evidence from Administrative Records in Colombia

摘要

Demand-side subsidies for education are increasingly common in developing countries. Chile and Colombia have both offered educational vouchers for private secondary schools, while Brazil, India, Israel, and Mexico have introduced student stipends that reward attendance and performance. Interest in demand-side subsidies in developing countries parallels interest in the United States, where publicly funded vouchers for private schools have been distributed in a number of cities. Previous research on primary and secondary school vouchers typically focuses on the short-run effects of vouchers on test scores. The results so far suggest that vouchers benefit some groups of recipients, though the extent of test-score gains is disputed. Missing from most studies of voucher effects is an assessment of impacts on longer-term outcomes—such as high-school graduation rates—that are more clearly tied to economic success.