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  3. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
  4. January 2024
  5. The Marginal Returns to Distance Education: Evidence from Mexico's Telesecundarias

The Marginal Returns to Distance Education: Evidence from Mexico's Telesecundarias

  • Emilio Borghesan
  • Gabrielle Vasey
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 16, no. 1, January 2024
(pp. 253-85)
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Abstract

This paper analyzes a large-scale and long-running distance education program in Mexico. We estimate marginal treatment effects (MTEs) for learning in math and Spanish in telesecundarias relative to traditional Mexican secondary schools using an empirical framework that allows for unobserved sorting on gains. The estimated MTEs reveal that school choice is not random and that the average student experiences significant improvements in both math and Spanish after just one year of attendance in telesecundarias. We find that the existing policy reduces educational inequality, and our policy-relevant treatment effects show that expanding telesecundarias would yield significant improvements in academic performance.

Citation

Borghesan, Emilio, and Gabrielle Vasey. 2024. "The Marginal Returns to Distance Education: Evidence from Mexico's Telesecundarias." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 16 (1): 253-85. DOI: 10.1257/app.20220065

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • I21 Analysis of Education
  • I24 Education and Inequality
  • I26 Returns to Education
  • I28 Education: Government Policy
  • O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
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