Description:

Speaker: Nathalie Basto

Title: Evaluating Educational Incentives: The Direct and Peer Effects of Financial Aid" (joint work with Elizabeth Jaramillo)

Abstract: "This study assesses the Ser Pilo Paga (SPP) scholarship's effect on educational outcomes in Colombia, leveraging a Regression Discontinuity (RD) design to evaluate direct motivational impacts on scholarship-eligible students and employing a Diff-in-Diff methodology to estimate peer effects on ineligible students. It finds a significant direct motivational effect, particularly in the cohort immediately following the first scholarship recipients, with an increase of 2 to 3 points in exam scores for students below the poverty threshold. Preliminary analyses suggest an increase in middle and high school completion rates among subsequent cohorts. The DiD estimates reveal significant peer effects on math scores. While the study offers a detailed methodological framework for examining the scholarship's repercussions, it presents initial results focusing on selected outcomes, excluding factors such as performance in earlier grades, parental contributions, and involvement in criminal activities. The research contributes to the literature on the role of financial incentives in education, offering insights into how such initiatives can shape educational pursuits and socioeconomic mobility."