Can Free Provision Reduce Demand for Public Services? : Evidence from Kenyan Education
In 2003 Kenya abolished user fees in all government primary schools. We show that this policy contributed to a shift in demand away from free schools, where net enrollment stagnated after 2003, toward fee-charging private schools, where both enrollment and fee levels grew rapidly after 2003. These s...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank
2017
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25843 |
| id |
okr-10986-25843 |
|---|---|
| recordtype |
oai_dc |
| spelling |
okr-10986-258432021-04-23T14:04:32Z Can Free Provision Reduce Demand for Public Services? : Evidence from Kenyan Education Bold, Tessa Kimenyi, Mwangi Germano, Mwabu Sandefur, Justin primary education school fees school enrollment free schools segregation access to education equality price reform education reform In 2003 Kenya abolished user fees in all government primary schools. We show that this policy contributed to a shift in demand away from free schools, where net enrollment stagnated after 2003, toward fee-charging private schools, where both enrollment and fee levels grew rapidly after 2003. These shifts had mixed distributional consequences. Enrollment by poorer households increased, but segregation between socio-economic groups also increased. We find evidence that the shift in demand toward private schooling was driven by more affluent households who (i) paid higher ex ante fees and thus experienced a larger reduction in school funding, and (ii) exited public schools in reaction to increased enrollment by poorer children. 2017-01-11T22:11:34Z 2017-01-11T22:11:34Z 2015-07 Journal Article World Bank Economic Review 1564-698X http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25843 en_US CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank Publications & Research :: Journal Article Publications & Research Africa Kenya |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
en_US |
| topic |
primary education school fees school enrollment free schools segregation access to education equality price reform education reform |
| spellingShingle |
primary education school fees school enrollment free schools segregation access to education equality price reform education reform Bold, Tessa Kimenyi, Mwangi Germano, Mwabu Sandefur, Justin Can Free Provision Reduce Demand for Public Services? : Evidence from Kenyan Education |
| geographic_facet |
Africa Kenya |
| description |
In 2003 Kenya abolished user fees in all government primary schools. We show that this policy contributed to a shift in demand away from free schools, where net enrollment stagnated after 2003, toward fee-charging private schools, where both enrollment and fee levels grew rapidly after 2003. These shifts had mixed distributional consequences. Enrollment by poorer households increased, but segregation between socio-economic groups also increased. We find evidence that the shift in demand toward private schooling was driven by more affluent households who (i) paid higher ex ante fees and thus experienced a larger reduction in school funding, and (ii) exited public schools in reaction to increased enrollment by poorer children. |
| format |
Journal Article |
| author |
Bold, Tessa Kimenyi, Mwangi Germano, Mwabu Sandefur, Justin |
| author_facet |
Bold, Tessa Kimenyi, Mwangi Germano, Mwabu Sandefur, Justin |
| author_sort |
Bold, Tessa |
| title |
Can Free Provision Reduce Demand for Public Services? : Evidence from Kenyan Education |
| title_short |
Can Free Provision Reduce Demand for Public Services? : Evidence from Kenyan Education |
| title_full |
Can Free Provision Reduce Demand for Public Services? : Evidence from Kenyan Education |
| title_fullStr |
Can Free Provision Reduce Demand for Public Services? : Evidence from Kenyan Education |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Can Free Provision Reduce Demand for Public Services? : Evidence from Kenyan Education |
| title_sort |
can free provision reduce demand for public services? : evidence from kenyan education |
| publisher |
Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank |
| publishDate |
2017 |
| url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25843 |
| _version_ |
1764460291139043328 |