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Delivering Education to the Underserved through a Public-Private Partnership Program in Pakistan

Author

Listed:
  • Felipe Barrera-Osorio
  • David S. Blakeslee
  • Matthew Hoover
  • Leigh Linden
  • Dhushyanth Raju
  • Stephen P. Ryan

Abstract

We evaluate a program that recruited local entrepreneurs to open and operate new schools in 200 underserved villages in Sindh, Pakistan. School operators received a per student subsidy to provide tuition-free primary education, and half the villages received a higher subsidy for females. The program increased enrollment by 32 percentage points and test scores by 0.63 standard deviations, with no difference across the two subsidy schemes. Estimating a structural model of the demand and supply for school inputs, we find that program schools selected inputs similar to those of a social planner who internalizes all the education benefits to society.

Suggested Citation

  • Felipe Barrera-Osorio & David S. Blakeslee & Matthew Hoover & Leigh Linden & Dhushyanth Raju & Stephen P. Ryan, 2022. "Delivering Education to the Underserved through a Public-Private Partnership Program in Pakistan," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(3), pages 399-416, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:104:y:2022:i:3:p:399-416
    DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01002
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    Cited by:

    1. Simões, Kelly Fabiane & Fernandez, Rodrigo Nobre & Carraro, André & Lima, Alex Felipe, 2025. "Assessment of the impact of Public-Private Partnerships in education: A case study of schools in Brazil," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    2. Athira Vinod, 2024. "Affirmative action and private education expenditure by disadvantaged groups: Evidence from India," Discussion Papers 2024-02, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    3. Anjeela Khurram, 2025. "Implementation of Education Policy in Pakistan: A Systematic Literature Review," PIDE-Working Papers 2025:8, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
    4. de Araújo, Jevuks Matheus & Alves, Pedro Jorge Holanda & Melo, Ana Karolina Acris & de Aguiar, Margaria Noélia & Eufrosino, Rômulo, 2025. "Evaluating the impacts of the Brazilian model for military public schools," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    5. Sajid Ali & Sadia Muzaffar Bhutta & Sohail Ahmad & Aisha Naz Ansari & Afaq Ahmed & Yasir Qadir, 2024. "PROTOCOL: Effectiveness of public‐private partnerships on educational access and quality of primary and secondary schooling in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(2), June.
    6. Tahir Andrabi & Jishnu Das & Asim I. Khwaja & Selcuk Ozyurt & Niharika Singh, 2020. "Upping the Ante: The Equilibrium Effects of Unconditional Grants to Private Schools," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(10), pages 3315-3349, October.
    7. Santibañez, Lucrecia & Saavedra, Juan E. & Kattan, Raja B. & Patrinos, Harry A., 2021. "Comprehensive private schooling for low-income children: Experimental case-study evidence from Mexico," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    8. Ansari, Ali H., 2020. "Cream skimming? Evaluating the access to Punjab’s public-private partnership programs in education," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    9. Wayne Aaron Sandholtz & Wayne Sandholtz, 2024. "Secondary School Access Raises Primary School Achievement," CESifo Working Paper Series 11343, CESifo.
    10. Moulay Driss Zine Eddine El Idrissi & Emmanuel Skoufias, 2020. "Realizing Demographic Dividends in the Republic of Congo," World Bank Publications - Reports 34143, The World Bank Group.
    11. Contreras, Dante & Rodríguez, Jorge & Urzúa, Sergio, 2024. "Is private education worth it? Evidence from school-to-work transitions in Chile," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    12. Gul Muhammad Rind & Dhani Bux Shah, 2022. "Public-Private Partnerships in Education: Evaluating the Education Management Organisations Programme in Sindh, Pakistan (Article)," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 61(2), pages 185-211.
    13. Wajeeha Hazoor, 2025. "A Comparative Analysis of Educational Privatization and School Choice on Testing and Access in the United States and Pakistan," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(5), pages 4827-4835, May.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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