Can Free Provision Reduce Demand for Public Services? : Evidence from Kenya
研究了2003年肯尼亚取消公立小学收费后，需求从免费公立学校转向收费私立学校，导致入学停滞、私立学校扩张，并加剧了社会经济群体间的隔离。
In 2003 Kenya abolished user fees in all government primary schools. We show that this policy contributed to a shift in demand away from free schools, where net enrollment stagnated after 2003, toward fee-charging private schools, where both enrollment and fee levels grew rapidly after 2003. These shifts had mixed distributional consequences. Enrollment by poorer households increased, but segregation between socio-economic groups also increased. We find evidence that the shift in demand toward private schooling was driven by more affluent households who (i) paid higher ex ante fees and thus experienced a larger reduction in school funding, and (ii) exited public schools in reaction to increased enrollment by poorer children.