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The heterogeneous effect of information on student performance: Evidence from a randomized control trial in Mexico

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  • Avitabile, Ciro
  • de Hoyos, Rafael

Abstract

We use data from the randomized control trial of the Percepciones pilot to study whether providing 10th grade students with information about the average earnings associated with different educational attainments, life expectancy, and obtaining funding for higher education can contribute to improving student outcomes. We find that the intervention had no effects on a proxy for on-time high school completion, but a positive and significant impact on standardized test scores and self-reported measures of effort. The effects on standardized test scores are larger for girls and for students from households with relatively high incomes. We also find positive, but not statistically significant effects, on the probability of taking a university entry exam and of obtaining a high score in the exam.

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  • Avitabile, Ciro & de Hoyos, Rafael, 2018. "The heterogeneous effect of information on student performance: Evidence from a randomized control trial in Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 318-348.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:135:y:2018:i:c:p:318-348
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2018.07.008
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    4. Sam Jones & Ricardo Santos & Gimelgo Xirinda, 2020. "Misinformed, mismatched, or misled?: Explaining the gap between expected and realized graduate earnings in Mozambique," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-47, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Rafael De Hoyos & Orazio Attanasio & Costas Meghir, 2019. "Targeting High School Scholarships to the Poor: The Impact of a Program in Mexico," NBER Working Papers 26023, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. 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.
    7. Fruttero,Anna & Muller,Noel & Calvo-Gonzalez,Oscar, 2021. "The Power and Roots of Aspirations : A Survey of the Empirical Evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9729, The World Bank.
    8. Luis Fernando Gamboa & Paul Andrés Rodríguez-Lesmes, 2018. "Subjective Earnings and Academic Expectations of Tertiary Education in Colombia," Revista ESPE - Ensayos sobre Política Económica, Banco de la Republica de Colombia, vol. 36(86), pages 159-177, June.
    9. Gehrke, Esther & Lenel, Friederike & Schupp, Claudia, 2022. "Interest exploration and investments in education: Experimental evidence from Cambodia," OSF Preprints k6tqr, Center for Open Science.
    10. Bonilla-Mejía, Leonardo & Bottan, Nicolas L. & Ham, Andrés, 2019. "Information policies and higher education choices experimental evidence from Colombia," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    11. World Bank, 2017. "Republic of Armenia Leveling the STEM Playing Field for Women," World Bank Publications - Reports 26766, The World Bank Group.
    12. repec:bdr:ensayo:v:36:y:2018:i:86:p:1-19 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Ballarino, Gabriele & Filippin, Antonio & Abbiati, Giovanni & Argentin, Gianluca & Barone, Carlo & Schizzerotto, Antonio, 2022. "The effects of an information campaign beyond university enrolment: A large-scale field experiment on the choices of high school students," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    14. Esther Gehrke & Friederike Lenel & Claudia Schupp, 2023. "Occupational Aspirations and Investments in Education: Experimental Evidence from Cambodia," CESifo Working Paper Series 10608, CESifo.
    15. Jaime, Marcela & Salazar, César & Alpizar, Francisco & Carlsson, Fredrik, 2023. "Can school environmental education programs make children and parents more pro-environmental?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    16. Nguyen, Trang & de Brauw, Alan & van den Berg, Marrit, 2022. "Sweet or not: Using information and cognitive dissonance to nudge children toward healthier food choices," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    17. Francesca Marchetta & Tom Dilly, 2019. "Supporting Education in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges for an Impact Investor," Working Papers hal-02288103, HAL.
    18. de Hoyos, Rafael & Estrada, Ricardo & Vargas, María José, 2021. "What do test scores really capture? Evidence from a large-scale student assessment in Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    19. World Bank Group, 2016. "From Aspirations to Occupations," World Bank Publications - Reports 24755, The World Bank Group.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Information; Subjective expectations; School performance; Gender;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • D80 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - General
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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