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Conditional cash penalties in education: Evidence from the learnfare experiment

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  • Thomas Dee
Abstract
Wisconsin's influential Learnfare initiative is a conditional cash penalty program that sanctions a family's welfare grant when covered teens fail to meet school attendance targets. In the presence of reference-dependent preferences, Learnfare provides uniquely powerful financial incentives for student performance. However, a 10-county random-assignment evaluation suggested that Learnfare had no sustained effects on school enrollment and attendance. This study evaluates the data from this randomized field experiment. In Milwaukee County, the Learnfare procedures were poorly implemented and the random-assignment process failed to produce balanced baseline traits. However, in the nine remaining counties, Learnfare increased school enrollment by 3.7 percent (effect size = 0.08) and attendance by 4.5 percent (effect size = 0.10). The hypothesis of a common treatment effect sustained throughout the six-semester study period could not be rejected. These effects were larger among subgroups at risk for dropping out of school (e.g., baseline dropouts, those over age for grade). For example, these heterogeneous treatment effects imply that Learnfare closed the enrollment gap between baseline dropouts and school attendees by 41 percent. These results suggest that well-designed financial incentives can be an effective mechanism for improving the school persistence of at-risk students at scale.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Dee, 2009. "Conditional cash penalties in education: Evidence from the learnfare experiment," Framed Field Experiments 00199, The Field Experiments Website.
    • Handle: RePEc:feb:framed:00199
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Joshua Angrist & Philip Oreopoulos & Tyler Williams, 2014. "When Opportunity Knocks, Who Answers?: New Evidence on College Achievement Awards," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 49(3), pages 572-610.
    2. Metcalfe, Robert & Burgess, Simon & Proud, Steven, 2019. "Students' effort and educational achievement: Using the timing of the World Cup to vary the value of leisure," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 111-126.
    3. Rashmi Barua & Marian Vidal-Fernandez, 2014. "No Pass No Drive: Education and Allocation of Time," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 8(4), pages 399-431.
    4. Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & Nathan Kettlewell & Stefanie Schurer & Sven Silburn, 2023. "The Effect of Quarantining Welfare on School Attendance in Indigenous Communities," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 58(6), pages 2072-2110.
    5. Martorell, Paco & Miller, Trey & Santibañez, Lucrecia & Augustine, Catherine H., 2016. "Can incentives for parents and students change educational inputs? Experimental evidence from summer school," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 113-126.
    6. Rachel M. Gisselquist & Miguel Niño-Zarazúa, 2013. "What Can Experiments Tell Us About How to Improve Governance?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2013-077, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Åslund, Olof & Engdahl, Mattias, 2018. "The value of earning for learning: Performance bonuses in immigrant language training," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 192-204.
    8. Robert Metcalfe & Simon Burgess and Steven Proud, 2011. "Student effort and educational attainment: Using the England football team to identify the education production function," Economics Series Working Papers 586, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    9. Kendall J. Kennedy, 2020. "The Unexpected Effects of No Pass, No Drive Policies on High School Education," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(1), pages 191-217, January.
    10. Uwe Dulleck & Juliana Silva-Goncalves & Benno Torgler, 2016. "Evaluation of an Incentive Program on Educational Achievement of Indigenous Students," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 92(298), pages 329-347, September.
    11. Uwe Dulleck & Juliana Silva-Goncalves & Benno Torgler, 2014. "Impact Evaluation of an Incentive Program on Educational Achievement of Indigenous Students," CREMA Working Paper Series 2014-13, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    12. Steven Levitt & John List & Sally Sadoff, 2016. "The Effect of Performance-Based Incentives on Educational Achievement: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment," Framed Field Experiments 00585, The Field Experiments Website.
    13. Doyle, Mary-Alice & Schurer, Stefanie & Silburn, Sven, 2022. "Unintended consequences of welfare reform: Evidence from birthweight of Aboriginal children in Australia," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    14. Lester Lusher, 2016. "College Better: Parimutuel Betting Markets as a Commitment Device and Monetary Incentive," Natural Field Experiments 00561, The Field Experiments Website.
    15. Uwe Dulleck & Juliana Silva-Goncalves & Benno Torgler, 2014. "Impact Evaluation of an Incentive Program on Educational Achievement of Indigenous Students," CREMA Working Paper Series 2014-13, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    16. Christilyn Juarez Arcayna & Jonelyn Juarez Arcayna & Resty Juarez Arcayna, 2021. "Implementation of 4PS Conditional Cash Transfer and Students’ School Attendance in Don Vicente Romualdez National High School," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 5(12), pages 907-922, December.
    17. Edberg, Dana & Mukhopadhyay, Sankar & Wendel, Jeanne, 2019. "Incentive design to boost health for juveniles with Medicaid coverage: Evidence from a field experiment," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 101-115.
    18. Moshe Justman & Kyle Peyton, 2018. "Enforcing Compulsory Schooling through Credible Coercion: Lessons from Australia's Northern Territory Intervention," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 94(306), pages 223-238, September.
    19. Philip J. Cook & Jens Ludwig, 2010. "Economical Crime Control," NBER Working Papers 16513, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Márton Medgyesi & Temesváry, Z., 2013. "GINI DP 84: Conditional cash transfers in high- income OECD countries and their effects on human capital accumulation," GINI Discussion Papers 84, AIAS, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies.
    21. Roland G. Fryer, Jr, 2010. "Racial Inequality in the 21st Century: The Declining Significance of Discrimination," NBER Working Papers 16256, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty

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