Skip to Main Navigation
Events

The Impact of Free Secondary Education: Experimental Evidence from Ghana

February 6, 2018

Washington, DC

Image
  • Pascaline Dupas
    Pascaline Dupas is an Associate Professor in the Economics Department at Stanford University, a Senior Fellow at Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, a Research Associate at NBER and an affiliate of the MIT Jameel Poverty Action Lab. Prior to joining the Stanford faculty in 2011, she taught at Dartmouth College and UCLA. Dupas' primary areas of research are health, education, microsavings, technology adoption, and governance. Her primary geographical expertise is Africa. She studied at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris before receiving a Ph.D. in Economics from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in 2006.

  • Primary school enrollment has risen in Sub-Saharan Africa over the past two decades, but secondary school enrollment rates remain relatively low. This paper evaluates the effect of secondary school scholarships on educational attainment and cognitive skills in the short run, and on life outcomes in the medium run (after 9 years). Results show that cost is an important barrier to secondary school enrollment among middle school graduates. Full scholarships increase young people’s educational attainment, knowledge, skills, and preventative health behaviors. For women, secondary schooling also delayed marriage and pregnancy. Labor market impacts are highly heterogeneous across groups and over time.

  • The Development Economics Vice Presidency (DEC) launched its lecture series in April 2005 to bring distinguished academics to the Bank to present and discuss new knowledge on development. The purpose of the Lecture Series is to introduce ideas on cutting edge research, challenge and contribute to the Bank's intellectual climate, and reexamine current development theories and practices. The Lectures revisit issues of long-standing concern and explore emerging issues that promise to be central to future development discourse. The Lecture Series reflects DEC’s commitment to intellectual leadership and openness in embracing future challenges to reduce poverty.

    The DEC Lecture Series is chaired is chaired by Shanta Devarajan, Senior Director, Development Economics, and includes a presentation and floor discussion.

    • TUESDAY, MARCH 13: Pinelopi Goldberg, Princeton University
    • TUESDAY, APRIL 24: Rohini Pande, Harvard University
    • MONDAY, MAY 21: Oriana Bandiera, LSE
    • MONDAY, JUNE 18: Rema Hanna, Harvard University
    • MONDAY, JULY 16: Dina Pomeranz, University of Zurich
    • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11: Gita Gopinath, Harvard University

Lecture Details

  • Date: Tuesday, February 6, 2018
  • Time: 12:30 – 2:00 PM
  • Venue: MC2-800
Watch Lecture