This website uses cookies.

By clicking the "Accept" button or continuing to browse our site, you agree to first-party and session-only cookies being stored on your device to enhance site navigation and analyze site performance and traffic. For more information on our use of cookies, please see our Privacy Policy.

  1. Home
  2. Journals
  3. American Economic Review
  4. September 2009
  5. The Effects of High Stakes High School Achievement Awards: Evidence from a Randomized Trial

American Economic Review

ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)

The Effects of High Stakes High School Achievement Awards: Evidence from a Randomized Trial

  • Joshua Angrist
  • Victor Lavy
American Economic Review
vol. 99, no. 4, September 2009
(pp. 1384–1414)
Download Full Text PDF

Abstract

The Israeli matriculation certificate is a prerequisite for most postsecondary schooling. In a randomized trial, we attempted to increase certification rates among low-achievers with cash incentives. The experiment used a school-based randomization design offering awards to all who passed their exams in treated schools. This led to a substantial increase in certification rates for girls but had no effect on boys. Affected girls had a relatively high ex ante chance of certification. The increase in girls' matriculation rates translated into an increased likelihood of college attendance. Female matriculation rates increased partly because treated girls devoted extra time to exam preparation. (JEL I21, I28, J16)

Citation

Angrist, Joshua, and Victor Lavy. 2009. "The Effects of High Stakes High School Achievement Awards: Evidence from a Randomized Trial." American Economic Review, 99 (4): 1384–1414. DOI: 10.1257/aer.99.4.1384

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • I21 Analysis of Education
  • I28 Education: Government Policy
  • J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination