Countering Moral Hazard in Higher Education: The Role of Performance Incentives in Need-Based Grants*
利用西班牙助学金改革，研究不同学业要求强度下基于需求的助学金对学生成绩和辍学率的影响，发现高要求助学金能显著提升学生表现和毕业率。
Abstract Using a unique reform in the Spanish financial aid program, I estimate the impact of need-based grants on student achievement and dropout decisions under different intensities of academic requirements. Utilising comprehensive administrative data from a large university, I exploit sharp discontinuities in the grant eligibility formula to identify the effect of aid on student outcomes. I find that aid eligibility has no effect on student outcomes when the academic requirements are comparable with most existing national grant schemes worldwide. In contrast, I find that need-based grants have strong positive impacts on student performance and degree completion when they are combined with more demanding academic requirements.