Do Slum Upgrading Programs Impact School Attendance?

Produced by: 
Inter-American Development Bank
Available from: 
October 2021
Paper author(s): 
Wladimir Zanoni
Paloma Acevedo
Diego Guerrero
Topic: 
Education - Health
Poverty - Inequality - Aid Effectiveness
Year: 
2022

This paper analyzes how slum upgrading programs impact elementary school childrens attendance in Uruguay. We take advantage of the eligibility rule that deems slums eligible for a SUP program if they have 40 or more dwelling units. Using a fuzzy regression discontinuity estimator, we find that students exposed to SUPs are 17 percent less likely to be at the 90th percentile of the yearly count of school absences. That effect appears to be driven by how SUPs impact girls. These interventions have effects that last for more than five years after their implementation. We discuss some critical urban and education policy implications of our findings.

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Research section: 
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