and Brudevold-Newman (2016) find positive effects of additional exposure to secondary education on labor market outcomes, in Kenya; Brudevold-Newman ( _ibid._ ) also demonstrates related delays in childbearing and marriage. A review of the longterm impacts of CCT programs in Latin America (Molina-Millan et al. 2016) concludes that the literature produces very mixed results, with CCTs during the school

- settings, but not in others.

- **Intervention and Experimental Design** the Government of Cambodia began implementing a new pilot scholarship for grade 4 students in 207 public schools. The program’s stated goal

- reduce student drop-out rates and increase primary school completion,

- the government also implicitly sought to improve students’ educational performance. time, the program’s 207 schools represented all public schools in three

- country’s 25 provinces<sup>8</sup> (Mondulkiri, Ratanakiri, and Preah Vihear); the had been selected for having the highest drop-out rates in the upper

- grades (grades four to six), according to Cambodia’s Education Management System (EMIS).<sup>9</sup> The program was phased in as a pilot over two

- a random set of 103 schools starting in 2008/09 and the remaining in the following year (random assignment was stratified by province).

- scholarship program targeted students entering grade 4, using one of approaches. In a randomly selected half of the scholarship schools students were selected based on their combined performance on a test

- and mathematics. This “merit-based” eligibility was determined

- aspirations, as well as positive impacts on educational attainment and initial labor 11 after

# **3 Intervention and Experimental Design**

In 2008, the Government of Cambodia began implementing a new pilot scholarship program for grade 4 students in 207 public schools. The program’s stated goal was to reduce student drop-out rates and increase primary school completion, though the government also implicitly sought to improve students’ educational performance. At the time, the program’s 207 schools represented all public schools in three of the country’s 25 provinces<sup>8</sup> (Mondulkiri, Ratanakiri, and Preah Vihear); the three provinces had been selected for having the highest drop-out rates in the upper primary grades (grades four to six), according to Cambodia’s Education Management Information System (EMIS).<sup>9</sup> The program was phased in as a pilot over two years, with a random set of 103 schools starting in 2008/09 and the remaining schools entering in the following year (random assignment was stratified by province). The scholarship program targeted students entering grade 4, using one of two selection approaches. In a randomly selected half of the scholarship schools (52 schools), students were selected based on their combined performance on a test of Khmer and mathematics. This “merit-based” eligibility was determined through and aspirations, as well as positive impacts on educational attainment and initial labor market outcomes (approximately 11 years after program participation started).

> 8Here, we count the capital as Cambodia’s 25th “province”. More precisely, Phnom Penh is a special administrative district whose administrative characteristics partly resemble those of provinces. 9To limit the program’s geographic scope, in Ratanakiri, only five of seven districts were selected, choosing those districts with the highest dropout rate. In the remaining two provinces, all districts were selected.

years resulting in more cognitive, socioemotional skills and labor market outcomes in some settings, but not in others.

9