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Some children left behind: Variation in the effects of an educational intervention

Author

Listed:
  • Julie Buhl-Wiggers

    (Department of Economics, Copenhagen Business School)

  • Jason Kerwin

    (APEC - Department of Applied Economics [Minnesota] - CFANS - College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences - UMN - University of Minnesota [Twin Cities] - UMN - University of Minnesota System)

  • Juan Muñoz-Morales

    (LEM - Lille économie management - UMR 9221 - UA - Université d'Artois - UCL - Université catholique de Lille - ULCO - Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale - Université de Lille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Jeffrey Smith

    (Department of Economics, University of Wisconsin)

  • Rebecca Thornton

    (Department of Economics, University of Illinois)

Abstract

We document substantial variation in the effects of a highly-effective literacy program in northern Uganda. The program increases test scores by 1.4 SDs on average, but standard statistical bounds show that the impact standard deviation exceeds 1.0 SD. This implies that the variation in effects across our students is wider than the spread of mean effects across all randomized evaluations of developing country education interventions in the literature. This very effective program does indeed leave some students behind. At the same time, we do not learn much from our analyses that attempt to determine which students benefit more or less from the program. We reject rank preservation, and the weaker assumption of stochastic increasingness leaves wide bounds on quantile-specific average treatment effects. Neither conventional nor machine-learning approaches to estimating systematic heterogeneity capture more than a small fraction of the variation in impacts given our available candidate moderators.

Suggested Citation

  • Julie Buhl-Wiggers & Jason Kerwin & Juan Muñoz-Morales & Jeffrey Smith & Rebecca Thornton, 2022. "Some children left behind: Variation in the effects of an educational intervention," Post-Print hal-03972201, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03972201
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeconom.2021.12.010
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    Cited by:

    1. Li, Yanan & Sunder, Naveen, 2024. "Distributional effects of education on mental health," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    2. Marianne Simonsen & Lars Skipper, 2024. "Healthy at Work? Evidence from a Social Experimental Evaluation of a Firm-Based Wellness Program," CESifo Working Paper Series 11209, CESifo.
    3. Chimbutane, Feliciano & Karachiwalla, Naureen & Herrera-Almanza, Catalina & Leight, Jessica & Lauchande, Carlos, 2026. "The effect of teacher training and community literacy programming on teacher and student outcomes," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    4. Muhammad Meki & Simon Quinn, 2024. "Microfinance: an overview," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 40(1), pages 1-7.
    5. Buhl-Wiggers, Julie & Kerwin, Jason T. & Muñoz-Morales, Juan & Smith, Jeffrey & Thornton, Rebecca, 2024. "Some children left behind: Variation in the effects of an educational intervention," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 243(1).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education

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