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                  enGender Impact: The World Bank’s Gender Impact Evaluation Database



  The Effects of User Fee Reductions on Enrollment: Evidence from a quasi-experiment

      Author(s)            Felipe Barrera-Osorio, Leigh Linden, Miguel Urquiola
      Contact              fbarrera@worldbank.org

      Country              Colombia

  Organizing Theme         Education and Skills

       Status              Completed

Intervention Category      School Fee Reduction

       Sector              Education
                           This paper evaluates the impact of a fee reduction program launched by the city of Bogota
                           in 2004. The program is targeted using a proxy-mean index (the SISBEN index), such that
                           the probability that households benefit from the fee reduction is a discontinuous function
                           of their SISBEN score. This allows us to implement a regression discontinuity design
                           which, as we discuss below, can yield rigorous and credible estimates of this program’s
                           effect. To our knowledge, Bogota is the first setting in which such a design has been
                           applied to evaluate a fee reduction program. Our results suggest that the program had a
      Abstract             significant impact. We find that the fee reductions offered to individuals of Sisben levels 1
                           and 2 have a positive effect on enrollment in primary grades for students in Sisben 1, and
                           in high school grades for Sisben 2. Specifically, the estimates suggest that Gratuidad raises
                           the probability of enrollment for primary aged Sisben 1 students by about 3 percent, and
                           for high school-aged Sisben 2 students by about 6 percent. Importantly, these positive
                           effects seem to be larger for at-risk students, and to not vary by gender. While there are
                           groups for which we find no effect (e.g. students of age to attend high school grades in
                           Sisben 1) the overall pattern of results suggests the program had a significant impact.
 Gender Connection         Gender Informed Analysis

  Gender Outcomes          Gender disaggregated school enrollment

     IE Design             Regression Discontinuity
                           The Gratuidad fee reduction initiative was started by the Bogota government in 2004. The
                           program is targeted using a proxy means test, and children's fees are reduced based on their
    Intervention           score on the index. Sisben 1 children benefit from the elimination of both academic and
                           complementary service fees, while Sisben 2 households receive a reduction in fees of about
                           50%.
 Intervention Period       2004-Present

  Sample population        The Sisben reached 4,030,628 individuals in 1,110,588 households.
                           The study compares students in households who are just below (treatment) the Sisben
Comparison conditions
                           index cutoffs to individuals who are just above (control) the cutoff



   Last updated: 14 August 2013                                                                        1
                   enGender Impact: The World Bank’s Gender Impact Evaluation Database



    Unit of analysis        Student Level

   Evaluation Period        2004-2005
                            The program did have a significant impact. The authors find that the fee reductions offered
                            to individuals of Sisben levels 1 and 2 have a positive effect on enrollment in primary
                            grades for students in Sisben 1, and in high school grades for Sisben 2. Specifically, the
                            estimates suggest that Gratuidad raises the probability of enrollment for primary-aged
                            Sisben 1 students by about 3 percent, and for high school-aged Sisben 2 students by about
                            6 percent. Importantly, these positive effects seem to be larger for at-risk students, and to
        Results
                            not vary by gender. While there are groups for which we find no effect (e.g. students of age
                            to attend high school grades in Sisben 1) the overall pattern of results suggests the program
                            had a significant impact. Additionally, we find evidence that enrollment responses are
                            sensitive to the size of the subsidy. For basic education, the program is significant for boys
                            but not girls. In contrast, for the high school, girls experience a 7.6 p.p. response while the
                            estimator for men is not significant.
                            Parents may have tried to "game" the system in order to score just low enough to be
Primary study limitations
                            enrolled in the program. However, there is no bunching of scores around the cutoff.
    Funding Source          The Secretary of Education of the District of Bogota, and Fedesarrollo
                            Barrera-Osorio, F., Linden, L., Urquiola, M. (2007) The Effects of User Fee Reductions on
      Reference(s)
                            Enrollment Evidence from a quasi-experiment
    Link to Studies         http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EDUCATION/Resources/278200-
                            1121703274255/1439264-1171379341729/SessionIII_FelipeBarrera3.pdf
       Microdata




    Last updated: 14 August 2013                                                                        2