Economics ETDs

Publication Date

Summer 7-29-2025

Abstract

The first chapter of this dissertation evaluates the impact of Ghana’s Capitation Grant Scheme, a government education policy that provides direct funding to public schools to eliminate primary school fees, on both the short- and long-term numeracy and literacy skills of children intended to be treated. The findings suggest that free primary education may exacerbate language competition in linguistically discordant societies. In the second chapter, we find that, even without complementary infrastructural expansion, an additional year of official secondary schooling positively affects secondary and post-secondary educational outcomes. The third chapter investigates the relationship between secondary education length reform and reproductive and marriage decisions. While we find no discernible relationship between exposure to lengthy secondary education structure and average age at first marriage, it is linked with reductions in both the expected number of births and the likelihood to be married.

Degree Name

Economics

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Department of Economics

First Committee Member (Chair)

Kira Villa, Ph.D.

Second Committee Member

Matias Fontenla, Ph.D.

Third Committee Member

Xiaoxue Li, Ph.D.

Fourth Committee Member

Paul Glewwe, Ph.D.

Language

English

Keywords

Education Intervention, Free School, Extended Years of High School

Document Type

Dissertation

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