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Free Textbooks and Long-term Outcomes: Evidence from Turkey

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  • Sonkurt Sen

Abstract

Access to resources significantly influences academic success, particularly for students facing disadvantages. This study, focusing on females, examinestheeffectsofareform in Turkeythat provided free school textbooksto all students. Usingprimaryschoolen rollment eligibility cutoffs and implementing a Regression Discontinuity design, I find that providing free textbooks in primary school improves females’ likelihood of com pleting high school. In terms of labor market outcomes, I find that females are more likely to be in employment and less likely to be out of labor force. Additionally, males are also less likely to be out of labor force. There is no impact on earnings, nor on the socio-economic classification of the job.

Suggested Citation

  • Sonkurt Sen, 2026. "Free Textbooks and Long-term Outcomes: Evidence from Turkey," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2025_758, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2025_758
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    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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