American Economic Review Vol. 110 No. 2 2020
Outsourcing Education: Experimental Evidence from Liberia
Abstract
In 2016, the Liberian government delegated management of 93 randomly selected public schools to private providers. Providers received US$50 per pupil, on top of US$50 per pupil annual expenditure in control schools. After one academic year, students in outsourced schools scored 0.18 σ higher in English and mathematics. We do not find heterogeneity in learning gains or enrollment by student characteristics, but there is significant heterogeneity across providers. While outsourcing appears to be a cost-effective way to use new resources to improve test scores, some providers engaged in unforeseen and potentially harmful behavior, complicating any assessment of welfare gains.
- DOI
- 10.1257/aer.20181478
- Volume
- 110
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 364-400
- Language
- en
- Sources
- bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref