The Fiscal Cost of Weak Governance : Evidence from Teacher Absence in India
The relative return to input-augmentation versus inefficiency-reduction strategies for improving education system performance is a key open question for education policy in low-income countries. Using a new nationally-representative panel dataset o...
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2016
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/02/25976238/fiscal-cost-weak-governance-evidence-teacher-absence-india http://hdl.handle.net/10986/23918 |
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okr-10986-239182021-04-23T14:04:18Z The Fiscal Cost of Weak Governance : Evidence from Teacher Absence in India Muralidharan, Karthik Das, Jishnu Holla, Alaka Mohpal, Aakash EMPLOYMENT PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS COLLEGE ITS SCHOOL TEACHERS NATIONAL SCHOOL TEACHERS ELEMENTARY EDUCATION STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES NUMBER OF SCHOOLS STUDENT-TEACHER RATIO SCHOOL DATA SCHOOL ENROLMENT COLLEGE DEGREES TUITION DISTRICT EDUCATION ENROLLMENT SCHOOL DAY EDUCATION POLICY STRATEGIES HEAD TEACHER EDUCATION OUTCOMES PAPERS COLLEGE DEGREE POOR PEOPLE RESEARCH INSTITUTE TEACHER PERFORMANCE SCHOOL CENSUS LEARNING GOALS ACADEMIC YEARS RURAL POPULATION COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION OPEN ACCESS QUALITY OF EDUCATION TRAINING TEACHER TRAINING EDUCATION INVESTMENTS PRIVATE SCHOOLS SPECIAL EDUCATION SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION SCHOOL HOURS SCHOOL DAYS PARENTAL EDUCATION EDUCATION DEPARTMENT STUDENT OUTCOMES EDUCATION BUDGET LEARNING EDUCATION SYSTEM RESEARCH SCHOOL QUALITY TEACHER SALARIES TEACHER RECOGNITION PRIMARY SCHOOL ENROLLMENT FIGURES PRIMARY EDUCATION POLICY TEACHING SCHOOL LEVEL SCHOOL-AGE RADIO LIBRARIES PRIMARY SCHOOLS READING SCHOOL YEAR UNIVERSAL EDUCATION SCHOOL FACILITIES WORKERS VALUES PRIMARY DATA PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS PUBLIC EXPENDITURE STUDENT SCHOOLS HEAD TEACHERS LEARNING OUTCOMES PUPIL-TEACHER RATIOS URBAN SCHOOLS STUDENT PERFORMANCE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION TEACHING DUTIES TEACHER RATIOS TEACHER HIRING LITERATURE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN CLASS SIZE REPORT CARDS RIGHT TO EDUCATION SENIOR TEACHER INFORMAL SCHOOLS TEACHER SCHOOL FEEDING RURAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS TEACHER RATIO ETHICS REMOTE VILLAGES EDUCATION VILLAGE LEVEL STUDENT TEACHER RATIO SCHOOL HOLIDAYS CLASS SIZES HUMAN RESOURCES SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION SCHOOL SUPERVISION PRIMARY EDUCATION SYSTEM SCHOOL CENSUSES PARENT-TEACHER ASSOCIATION PUBLIC SCHOOL PUBLIC SCHOOLS UNIVERSITY STUDENTS SCHOOL GOVERNANCE SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN PRIMARY EDUCATION DEGREES TEACHER ABSENTEEISM SCHOOL INSPECTIONS CLASSROOM TEACHING ACTIVITY CIVIL SERVICE SCHOOL SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE NUMBER OF TEACHERS STUDENT LEARNING SCHOOL SURVEYS HUMAN DEVELOPMENT PRIVATE SCHOOL The relative return to input-augmentation versus inefficiency-reduction strategies for improving education system performance is a key open question for education policy in low-income countries. Using a new nationally-representative panel dataset of schools across 1297 villages in India, this paper shows that the large investments over the past decade have led to substantial improvements in input-based measures of school quality, but only a modest reduction in inefficiency as measured by teacher absence. In the data, 23.6 percent of teachers were absent during unannounced visits with an associated fiscal cost of $1.5 billion/year. There are two robust correlations in the nationally-representative panel data that corroborate findings from smaller-scale experiments. First, reductions in student-teacher ratios are correlated with increased teacher absence. Second, increases in the frequency of school monitoring are strongly correlated with lower teacher absence. Simulations using these results suggest that investing in better governance by increasing the frequency of monitoring could be over ten times more cost effective at increasing teacher-student contact time (net of teacher absence) than hiring more teachers. Thus, at current margins, policies that decrease the inefficiency of public spending in India are likely to yield substantially higher returns than those that augment inputs. 2016-03-09T22:35:04Z 2016-03-09T22:35:04Z 2016-02 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/02/25976238/fiscal-cost-weak-governance-evidence-teacher-absence-india http://hdl.handle.net/10986/23918 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7579 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper South Asia India |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
EMPLOYMENT PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS COLLEGE ITS SCHOOL TEACHERS NATIONAL SCHOOL TEACHERS ELEMENTARY EDUCATION STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES NUMBER OF SCHOOLS STUDENT-TEACHER RATIO SCHOOL DATA SCHOOL ENROLMENT COLLEGE DEGREES TUITION DISTRICT EDUCATION ENROLLMENT SCHOOL DAY EDUCATION POLICY STRATEGIES HEAD TEACHER EDUCATION OUTCOMES PAPERS COLLEGE DEGREE POOR PEOPLE RESEARCH INSTITUTE TEACHER PERFORMANCE SCHOOL CENSUS LEARNING GOALS ACADEMIC YEARS RURAL POPULATION COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION OPEN ACCESS QUALITY OF EDUCATION TRAINING TEACHER TRAINING EDUCATION INVESTMENTS PRIVATE SCHOOLS SPECIAL EDUCATION SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION SCHOOL HOURS SCHOOL DAYS PARENTAL EDUCATION EDUCATION DEPARTMENT STUDENT OUTCOMES EDUCATION BUDGET LEARNING EDUCATION SYSTEM RESEARCH SCHOOL QUALITY TEACHER SALARIES TEACHER RECOGNITION PRIMARY SCHOOL ENROLLMENT FIGURES PRIMARY EDUCATION POLICY TEACHING SCHOOL LEVEL SCHOOL-AGE RADIO LIBRARIES PRIMARY SCHOOLS READING SCHOOL YEAR UNIVERSAL EDUCATION SCHOOL FACILITIES WORKERS VALUES PRIMARY DATA PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS PUBLIC EXPENDITURE STUDENT SCHOOLS HEAD TEACHERS LEARNING OUTCOMES PUPIL-TEACHER RATIOS URBAN SCHOOLS STUDENT PERFORMANCE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION TEACHING DUTIES TEACHER RATIOS TEACHER HIRING LITERATURE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN CLASS SIZE REPORT CARDS RIGHT TO EDUCATION SENIOR TEACHER INFORMAL SCHOOLS TEACHER SCHOOL FEEDING RURAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS TEACHER RATIO ETHICS REMOTE VILLAGES EDUCATION VILLAGE LEVEL STUDENT TEACHER RATIO SCHOOL HOLIDAYS CLASS SIZES HUMAN RESOURCES SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION SCHOOL SUPERVISION PRIMARY EDUCATION SYSTEM SCHOOL CENSUSES PARENT-TEACHER ASSOCIATION PUBLIC SCHOOL PUBLIC SCHOOLS UNIVERSITY STUDENTS SCHOOL GOVERNANCE SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN PRIMARY EDUCATION DEGREES TEACHER ABSENTEEISM SCHOOL INSPECTIONS CLASSROOM TEACHING ACTIVITY CIVIL SERVICE SCHOOL SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE NUMBER OF TEACHERS STUDENT LEARNING SCHOOL SURVEYS HUMAN DEVELOPMENT PRIVATE SCHOOL |
| spellingShingle |
EMPLOYMENT PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS COLLEGE ITS SCHOOL TEACHERS NATIONAL SCHOOL TEACHERS ELEMENTARY EDUCATION STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES NUMBER OF SCHOOLS STUDENT-TEACHER RATIO SCHOOL DATA SCHOOL ENROLMENT COLLEGE DEGREES TUITION DISTRICT EDUCATION ENROLLMENT SCHOOL DAY EDUCATION POLICY STRATEGIES HEAD TEACHER EDUCATION OUTCOMES PAPERS COLLEGE DEGREE POOR PEOPLE RESEARCH INSTITUTE TEACHER PERFORMANCE SCHOOL CENSUS LEARNING GOALS ACADEMIC YEARS RURAL POPULATION COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION OPEN ACCESS QUALITY OF EDUCATION TRAINING TEACHER TRAINING EDUCATION INVESTMENTS PRIVATE SCHOOLS SPECIAL EDUCATION SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION SCHOOL HOURS SCHOOL DAYS PARENTAL EDUCATION EDUCATION DEPARTMENT STUDENT OUTCOMES EDUCATION BUDGET LEARNING EDUCATION SYSTEM RESEARCH SCHOOL QUALITY TEACHER SALARIES TEACHER RECOGNITION PRIMARY SCHOOL ENROLLMENT FIGURES PRIMARY EDUCATION POLICY TEACHING SCHOOL LEVEL SCHOOL-AGE RADIO LIBRARIES PRIMARY SCHOOLS READING SCHOOL YEAR UNIVERSAL EDUCATION SCHOOL FACILITIES WORKERS VALUES PRIMARY DATA PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS PUBLIC EXPENDITURE STUDENT SCHOOLS HEAD TEACHERS LEARNING OUTCOMES PUPIL-TEACHER RATIOS URBAN SCHOOLS STUDENT PERFORMANCE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION TEACHING DUTIES TEACHER RATIOS TEACHER HIRING LITERATURE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN CLASS SIZE REPORT CARDS RIGHT TO EDUCATION SENIOR TEACHER INFORMAL SCHOOLS TEACHER SCHOOL FEEDING RURAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS TEACHER RATIO ETHICS REMOTE VILLAGES EDUCATION VILLAGE LEVEL STUDENT TEACHER RATIO SCHOOL HOLIDAYS CLASS SIZES HUMAN RESOURCES SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION SCHOOL SUPERVISION PRIMARY EDUCATION SYSTEM SCHOOL CENSUSES PARENT-TEACHER ASSOCIATION PUBLIC SCHOOL PUBLIC SCHOOLS UNIVERSITY STUDENTS SCHOOL GOVERNANCE SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN PRIMARY EDUCATION DEGREES TEACHER ABSENTEEISM SCHOOL INSPECTIONS CLASSROOM TEACHING ACTIVITY CIVIL SERVICE SCHOOL SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE NUMBER OF TEACHERS STUDENT LEARNING SCHOOL SURVEYS HUMAN DEVELOPMENT PRIVATE SCHOOL Muralidharan, Karthik Das, Jishnu Holla, Alaka Mohpal, Aakash The Fiscal Cost of Weak Governance : Evidence from Teacher Absence in India |
| geographic_facet |
South Asia India |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7579 |
| description |
The relative return to
input-augmentation versus inefficiency-reduction strategies
for improving education system performance is a key open
question for education policy in low-income countries. Using
a new nationally-representative panel dataset of schools
across 1297 villages in India, this paper shows that the
large investments over the past decade have led to
substantial improvements in input-based measures of school
quality, but only a modest reduction in inefficiency as
measured by teacher absence. In the data, 23.6 percent of
teachers were absent during unannounced visits with an
associated fiscal cost of $1.5 billion/year. There are two
robust correlations in the nationally-representative panel
data that corroborate findings from smaller-scale
experiments. First, reductions in student-teacher ratios are
correlated with increased teacher absence. Second, increases
in the frequency of school monitoring are strongly
correlated with lower teacher absence. Simulations using
these results suggest that investing in better governance by
increasing the frequency of monitoring could be over ten
times more cost effective at increasing teacher-student
contact time (net of teacher absence) than hiring more
teachers. Thus, at current margins, policies that decrease
the inefficiency of public spending in India are likely to
yield substantially higher returns than those that augment inputs. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Muralidharan, Karthik Das, Jishnu Holla, Alaka Mohpal, Aakash |
| author_facet |
Muralidharan, Karthik Das, Jishnu Holla, Alaka Mohpal, Aakash |
| author_sort |
Muralidharan, Karthik |
| title |
The Fiscal Cost of Weak Governance : Evidence from Teacher Absence in India |
| title_short |
The Fiscal Cost of Weak Governance : Evidence from Teacher Absence in India |
| title_full |
The Fiscal Cost of Weak Governance : Evidence from Teacher Absence in India |
| title_fullStr |
The Fiscal Cost of Weak Governance : Evidence from Teacher Absence in India |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The Fiscal Cost of Weak Governance : Evidence from Teacher Absence in India |
| title_sort |
fiscal cost of weak governance : evidence from teacher absence in india |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2016 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/02/25976238/fiscal-cost-weak-governance-evidence-teacher-absence-india http://hdl.handle.net/10986/23918 |
| _version_ |
1764455164988620800 |