International child sponsorship impact on the intended choice of acquiring a higher education degree: the case of rural Mexico

This paper studies the impact of a child sponsorship program on the aspiration to acquire a higher education degree among a group of rural children in Mexico. A binary Roy-type model is employed to estimate the program's effects while controlling for the program's selection of sponsored children. The findings indicate a positive relationship between the sponsorship effect and selection into the sponsorship program. The average treatment effect on the treated is positive and consistent with previous studies, although not statistically significant. From subjective income expectations data, the children reported realistic income expectations, though heterogeneous, and present a clear gender gap.