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Abstract:
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Education is crucial to break the cycle of poverty and underdevelopment, and yet one in five of the world's primary school-aged children are not enrolled in school. Any policy intervention aimed at increasing school enrollment, through addressing household demand for education and/or education supply, must recognize that household schooling decisions depend on a complex mix of individual, household, community, and school-related characteristics. This study examines how one supply-side intervention Nicaraguan education decentralization policy, called the Autonomous Schools Program influences household schooling decisions for poor families. Using data from the 2001 Nicaragua Living Standards Measurement Survey, the study tests the hypothesis that Nicaraguan autonomous schools have higher costs associated with them and are therefore prohibitively expensive for poor families, thus negatively affecting the probability of enrollment, despite potential quality improvements. A probit analysis, controlling for household and community characteristics, provides evidence that, for poor households living in a community without school choice, the presence of an autonomous school significantly decreases the probability of school enrollment. This result is strongest for the poorest households and for primary school-aged children. The effects of school costs on enrollment are less conclusive, though for primary school-aged children without school choice, monthly school fees are associated with lower probability of enrollment. This study's preliminary evidence suggests that Nicaragua's Autonomous School Program may adversely affect enrollment for the country's most vulnerable children. |