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Can Free Provision Reduce Demand for Public Services? Evidence from Kenyan Education

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  • Tessa Bold
  • Mwangi Kimenyi
  • Germano Mwabu
  • Justin Sandefur

Abstract

In 2003 Kenya abolished user fees in all government primary schools. We show that this policy contributed to a shift in demand away from free schools, where net enrollment stagnated after 2003, toward fee-charging private schools, where both enrollment and fee levels grew rapidly after 2003. These shifts had mixed distributional consequences. Enrollment by poorer households increased, but segregation between socio-economic groups also increased. We find evidence that the shift in demand toward private schooling was driven by more affluent households who (i) paid higher ex ante fees and thus experienced a larger reduction in school funding, and (ii) exited public schools in reaction to increased enrollment by poorer children.

Suggested Citation

  • Tessa Bold & Mwangi Kimenyi & Germano Mwabu & Justin Sandefur, 2015. "Can Free Provision Reduce Demand for Public Services? Evidence from Kenyan Education," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 29(2), pages 293-326.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:wbecrv:v:29:y:2015:i:2:p:293-326.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/wber/lht038
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    Cited by:

    1. Jules Gazeaud & Claire Ricard, 2021. "Conditional cash transfers and the learning crisis: evidence from Tayssir scale-up in Morocco," NOVAFRICA Working Paper Series wp2102, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics, NOVAFRICA.
    2. Annie L. Hines & Nicole B. Simpson, 2019. "Migration, remittances and human capital investment in Kenya," Economic Notes, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, vol. 48(3), November.
    3. Margherita Calderone, 2017. "Are there different spillover effects from cash transfers to men and women? Impacts on investments in education in post-war Uganda," WIDER Working Paper Series 093, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    4. Gruijters, Rob J. & Abango, Mohammed A & Casely-Hayford, Leslie, 2023. "Secondary School Fee Abolition in Sub-Saharan Africa: Taking Stock of the Evidence," SocArXiv 8fa2c, Center for Open Science.
    5. Valente, Christine, 2019. "Primary education expansion and quality of schooling," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    6. Gazeaud, Jules & Ricard, Claire, 2024. "Learning effects of conditional cash transfers: The role of class size and composition," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    7. Margherita Calderone, 2017. "Are there different spillover effects from cash transfers to men and women?: Impacts on investments in education in post-war Uganda," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-93, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Bold, Tessa & Barton, Nicholas & Sandefur, Justin, 2017. "Measuring Rents from Public Employment: Regression discontinuity evidence from Kenya," CEPR Discussion Papers 12105, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Nicholas Barton & Tessa Bold & Justin Sandefur, 2017. "Measuring Rents from Public Employment: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from Kenya - Working Paper 457," Working Papers 457, Center for Global Development.
    10. Mumuni Abdul Wahid, 2024. "Influence of Social Policy Intervention; An Analysis of Free Senior High School Policy in Ghana as a Tool to Improve Lives or a Tool to Gain Votes in Elections," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(4), pages 906-916, April.
    11. repec:osf:socarx:8fa2c_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Roxana Elena Manea; Pedro Naso, 2020. "School Fee Elimination and Educational Inequality in Tanzania," CIES Research Paper series 64-2020, Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute.
    13. Nguyen, Vy T. & King, Elizabeth M., 2022. "Should school fee abolition be comprehensive? An evaluation of Mozambique," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).

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