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Abstract

Wisconsin's influential Learnfare initiative is a conditional cash penalty program that sanctions a family's welfare grant when covered teens fail to meet school attendance targets. In the presence of reference-dependent preferences, Learnfare provides uniquely powerful financial incentives for student performance. However, a 10-county random-assignment evaluation suggested that Learnfare had no sustained effects on school enrollment and attendance. This study evaluates the data from this randomized field experiment. In Milwaukee County, the Learnfare procedures were poorly implemented and the random-assignment process failed to produce balanced baseline traits. However, in the nine remaining counties, Learnfare increased school enrollment by 3.5 percent (effect size = 0.08) and attendance by 4.5 percent (effect size = 0.10). These results suggest that well-designed financial incentives may be an effective mechanism for improving the school persistence of at-risk students at scale.

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File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775711000975
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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Economics of Education Review.

Volume (Year): 30 (2011)
Issue (Month): 5 (October)
Pages: 924-937

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Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:30:y:2011:i:5:p:924-937

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Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/econedurev

Related research

Keywords: Education Welfare Incentives Attainment Experiment;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:

• I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
• I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty

References

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Cited by:

1. Åslund, Olof & Engdahl, Mattias, 2013. "The value of earning for learning: Performance bonuses in immigrant language training," Working Paper Series, Center for Labor Studies 2013:1, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
2. Robert Metcalfe & Simon Burgess & Steven Proud, 2011. "Student effort and educational attainment: Using the England football team to identify the education production function," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 11/276, Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK.
   
   • Robert Metcalfe & Simon Burgess and Steven Proud, 2011. "Student effort and educational attainment: Using the England football team to identify the education production function," Economics Series Working Papers 586, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
3. Olof Åslund & Mattias Engdahl, 2013. "The value of earning for learning: Performance bonuses in immigrant language training," CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1303, Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), Department of Economics, University College London.
4. Joshua Angrist & Philip Oreopoulos & Tyler Williams, 2010. "When Opportunity Knocks, Who Answers? New Evidence on College Achievement Awards," NBER Working Papers 16643, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
5. Philip J. Cook & Jens Ludwig, 2010. "Economical Crime Control," NBER Working Papers 16513, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
6. Aslund, Olof & Engdahl, Mattias, 2012. "The Value of Earning for Learning: Performance Bonuses in Immigrant Language Training," IZA Discussion Papers 7118, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
7. Roland G. Fryer, Jr, 2010. "Racial Inequality in the 21st Century: The Declining Significance of Discrimination," NBER Working Papers 16256, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
8. Barua, Rashmi & Vidal-Fernández, Marian, 2012. "No Pass No Drive: Education and Allocation of Time," IZA Discussion Papers 6464, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).

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