Can Free Provision Reduce Demand for Public Services? Evidence from Kenyan Education *
研究肯尼亚2003年取消公立小学学费后，发现免费政策反而导致需求转向收费私立学校，富裕家庭因学校资金减少和贫困生涌入而退出公立学校，加剧了教育分层。
In 2003 Kenya abolished user fees in all \n government primary schools. Analysis of household survey \n data shows this policy contributed to a shift in demand away \n from free schools, where net enrollment stagnated after \n 2003, toward fee-charging private schools, where both \n enrollment and fee levels grew rapidly after 2003. These \n shifts had mixed distributional consequences. Enrollment by \n poorer households increased, but segregation between \n socio-economic groups also increased. The shift in demand \n toward private schooling was driven by more affluent \n households who (i) paid higher ex ante fees and thus \n experienced a larger reduction in school funding, and (ii) \n appear to have exited public schools partially in reaction \n to increased enrollment by poorer children.