Beyond Short-Term Learning Gains: The Impact of Outsourcing Schools in Liberia After Three Years

Abstract

Outsourcing the management of ninety-three randomly-selected government primary schools in Liberia to eight private operators led to learning gains of .18σ after one year, but these effects plateaued in subsequent years (reaching .2σ after three years). Beyond learning gains, the program reduced corporal punishment (by 4.6 percentage points from a base of 51%), but increased dropout (by 3.3 percentage points from a base of 15%) and failed to reduce sexual abuse. Despite facing similar contracts and settings, some providers produced uniformly positive results, while others present trade-offs between learning gains, access to education, child safety, and financial sustainability.