EDITOR＇S NOTE： As the widening gap between the rich and poor has become a major byproduct of China＇s nonstop economic growth over the past decades, the improvement of the disadvantaged group＇s livelihood has becom...EDITOR＇S NOTE： As the widening gap between the rich and poor has become a major byproduct of China＇s nonstop economic growth over the past decades, the improvement of the disadvantaged group＇s livelihood has become a top government concern. While numerous cities are working out their plans for ＂livelihood improvement projects,＂ local governments are making efforts to establish a sustainable mechanism that provides prompt, adequate relief to the needy. Licheng District in Jinan, capital of Shandong province, sets an example.展开更多
A significant gap remains between rural and urban students in the rate of admission to senior high school. One reason for this gap might be the high levels of tuition and fees for senior high school By reducing stude...A significant gap remains between rural and urban students in the rate of admission to senior high school. One reason for this gap might be the high levels of tuition and fees for senior high school By reducing students＇ expectations of attending high school, high levels of tuition and fees could be reducing student aeademic performance in junior high schools. In this paper we evaluate the impacts of a senior high tuition relief program on the test scores of poor rural seventh grade students in China. We surveyed three counties in Shaanxi Province and exploited the fact that, while the counties are adjacent to one another and share similar characteristics, only one of the three implemented a tuition relief program. Using several alternative estimation strategies, including difference-in-differences, propensity score matching and difference-in-differences matching, we find that the tuition program has a statistically significant and positive impact on the mathematics scores of seventh grade students. More importantly, this program is shown to have a statistically significant and positive effect on the poorest students in the treatment group compared to their wealthier peers.展开更多
文摘EDITOR＇S NOTE： As the widening gap between the rich and poor has become a major byproduct of China＇s nonstop economic growth over the past decades, the improvement of the disadvantaged group＇s livelihood has become a top government concern. While numerous cities are working out their plans for ＂livelihood improvement projects,＂ local governments are making efforts to establish a sustainable mechanism that provides prompt, adequate relief to the needy. Licheng District in Jinan, capital of Shandong province, sets an example.
基金the financial assistance of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.71110107028,71033003,71273237 and 70803047)the grant from Poverty and Economic Policy Research Network(PEP)The generous supports of local officials and especially those from Ningshan County Government
文摘A significant gap remains between rural and urban students in the rate of admission to senior high school. One reason for this gap might be the high levels of tuition and fees for senior high school By reducing students＇ expectations of attending high school, high levels of tuition and fees could be reducing student aeademic performance in junior high schools. In this paper we evaluate the impacts of a senior high tuition relief program on the test scores of poor rural seventh grade students in China. We surveyed three counties in Shaanxi Province and exploited the fact that, while the counties are adjacent to one another and share similar characteristics, only one of the three implemented a tuition relief program. Using several alternative estimation strategies, including difference-in-differences, propensity score matching and difference-in-differences matching, we find that the tuition program has a statistically significant and positive impact on the mathematics scores of seventh grade students. More importantly, this program is shown to have a statistically significant and positive effect on the poorest students in the treatment group compared to their wealthier peers.
