Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/106568 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 8621
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We evaluate the impact of the Gambian hardship allowance, which provides a salary premium of 30-40% to primary school teachers in remote locations, on student performance. A geographic discontinuity in the policy's implementation provides identifying variation. We find no effects of the hardship allowance on average student performance. These null average effects hide important heterogeneity, with learning gains for students at the top of the distribution and losses for those at the bottom. With over two dozen developing countries implementing similar policies to increase teacher compensation in rural schools, this study offers important evidence on their effectiveness.
Subjects: 
teacher compensation
rural schools
Gambia
program evaluation
regression discontinuity
JEL: 
I25
I28
J38
J45
O12
O15
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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