Most discussion of after-school programs in shantytowns has centered on estimating mean impacts of programs, and results are not conclusive. Previous literature provides some explanations for these mixed results but this paper provides a new channel: the effectiveness of an after-school program...

We evaluate the impact of joint-liability incentives in the classroom using a randomized field experiment. The instructor designs groups of three students in the classroom and provides a premium to their homework's grade only if all three members of the group meet some requirements. To isolate...

This paper documents the impact of an after-school program called Apoyo Escolar, sited in the most vulnerable neighborhood of a developing country. The outcomes of interest are academic achievement, behavior in the classroom and grade repetition. We designed a field experiment exploiting the...

We study the three-year impact of a private tuition-free middle school on the academic outcomes of poor students. Several features of the treatment school fit with innovative paradigms that have delivered successful outcomes in poor urban areas. Our research design exploits the excess of...

En América Latina, el debate acerca de los resultados heterogéneos en educación formal se ha centrado en las diferencias entre pobres y ricos. Este foco ha guidado a los diseñadores de política. Existen, sin embargo, otras profundas diferencias que reciben escasa o nula atención en la...

En el presente estudio, observamos los resultados de una política de asignación masiva de derechos de usufructo a los cuidacoches, personas que desempeñan –en la informalidad– tareas de vigilancia de vehículos aparcados en las calles. Sorprendentemente, a pesar del costo reducido y los...

We study the impact of high and low frequency incentives in a joint-liability framework on six academic outcomes of undergraduate students using a randomized field experiment. As recently documented in health literature, incentives to exercise are effective in developing healthy habits....

Using a randomized trial, we evaluate the impact of a free privately-managed middle school in a poor neighborhood. The research compares over time adolescents randomly selected to enter Liceo-Jubilar and those that were not drawn in the lottery. Besides positive impacts on expectations, we find...

There are a broad range of rehabilitation programs but results differ significantly among them, from positive to no-effect programs –and even to negative-effect programs. Hence, in order to guide policy, it is necessary to find out the features that should be present in programs for inmates to...