TY  - JOUR
AU  - Kremer,Michael
AU  - Miguel,Edward
AU  - Thornton,Rebecca
TI  - Incentives to Learn
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 10971
PY  - 2004
Y2  - December 2004
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w10971
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w10971.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Michael Kremer
Harvard University
Department of Economics
Littauer Center M20
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: 617/495-9145
Fax: 617/495-7730
E-Mail: mkremer@fas.harvard.edu

Edward Miguel
Department of Economics
University of California, Berkeley
530 Evans Hall #3880
Berkeley, CA 94720
Tel: 510/642-7162
Fax: 510/642-6615
E-Mail: emiguel@econ.berkeley.edu

Rebecca Thornton
University of Michigan
611 Tappan St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Tel: 734-763-3720
E-Mail: rebeccal@umich.edu
AB  - We report results from a randomized evaluation of a merit scholarship program for adolescent girls in Kenya. Girls who scored well on academic exams had their school fees paid and received a cash grant for school supplies. Girls eligible for the scholarship showed significant gains in academic exam scores (average gain 0.12-0.19 standard deviations) and these gains persisted 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, as did girls with low pretest scores, who were unlikely to win. Both student and teacher school attendance increased in the program schools. We discuss implications both for understanding the nature of educational production functions and for the policy debate surrounding merit scholarships.
ER  -