Navigating Multiple Frictions: Experimental evidence for impacting voucher take-up at scale by Abhijeet Singh

Join us for this week's event in the Behavioural, Experimental and Development Economics Seminar Series, Spring Term 2024

Join Abhijeet Singh, from the Stockholm School of Economics, as they present this week's seminar on Navigating Multiple Frictions: Experimental evidence for impacting voucher take-up at scale.  

Abstract

Many eligible families fail to apply for social programs, often due to frictions such as information constraints and application complexity. This study evaluates a large-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) with three interventions aimed at increasing take-up of the 25% reservation for disadvantaged children in private schools under India’s Right to Education (RTE) Act in India. Conducted across urban and rural areas in Chhattisgarh, the experiment evaluates the effects of information provision and application assistance --- both independently and in combination. The design allows us to assess complementarities between interventions and heterogeneities across socioeconomic groups and geographic areas. Preliminary findings suggest that application assistance significantly increases take-up, while information provision alone has a more limited impact. There is no evidence of complementarities between the interventions. While treatment effects vary across areas, machine learning methods fail to accurately predict these effects out-of-sample, limiting their use for policy targeting.

This seminar will be held in the Economics Common Room on Wednesday 12 March, at 11.00am. This event is open to all levels of study and is also open to the public. To register your place, please contact the seminar organisers.

This event is part of the Behavioural, Experimental, and Development Economics Research Seminar Series.