Table 1 Test Scores and Student Characteristics at the Border of Ceará

|||Panel|A. Stu|dents in 5<sup>_th_</sup>|grad|e|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Period**|**1.**|_Baseline_|**2**|**.** _RBF_|**3.**|_RBF_ +_TA_|**4.**|_RBF_(_re_) +_TA_|
|**Years**|(|2005_/_07)||(2009)||(2011)||<br>(2013_/_15_/_17)|
||**Ceará**|**Adj. States**|**Ceará**|**Adj. States**|**Ceará**|**Adj. States**|**Ceará**|**Adj. States**|
|Portuguese Scores|157.7|155.9|168.9|163.3|183.7|169.0|208.2|183.2|
||(37.7)|(35.5)|(42.1)|(37.1)|(45.4)|(38.8)|(52.8)|(45.1)|
|Mathematics Scores|172.5|172.5|184.8|180.8|201.6|184.6|220.7|194.4|
||(38.2)|(37.0)|(44.7)|(39.1)|(48.4)|(38.8)|(54.6)|(42.8)|
|% of Boys|0.50|0.49|0.52|0.51|0.52|0.51|0.51|0.51|
||(0.50)|(0.50)|(0.49)|(0.50)|(0.49)|(0.50)|(0.50)|(0.50)|
|% of White Students|0.27|0.29|0.27|0.28|0.24|0.25|0.22|0.26|
||(0.44)|(0.45)|(0.44)|(0.45)|(0.43)|(0.43)|(0.41)|(0.44)|
|Student Age (in years)|10.9|11.1|11.0|11.3|11.0|11.2|10.8|11.1|
||(1.31)|(1.53)|(1.37)|(1.52)|(1.25)|(1.44)|(1.05)|(1.27)|
|Household Size|5.02|4.98|4.99|4.97|5.07|5.10|5.40|5.37|
||(1.13)|(1.09)|(1.13)|(1.10)|(1.39)|(1.36)|(1.26)|(1.31)|
|% of Mothers with Diploma|0.12|0.14|0.11|0.13|0.12|0.14|0.17|0.18|
||(0.33)|(0.34)|(0.31)|(0.33)|(0.33)|(0.35)|(0.37)|(0.38)|
|**# of Student Observations**|37,437|17,352|47,768|22,011|50,346|21,401|129,350|82,395|
|||Panel|B. Stu|dents in 9<sup>_th_</sup>|grad|e|||
|**Period**|**1.**|_Baseline_|**2**|**.** _RBF_|**3.**|_RBF_(_re_)|**4.**|_RBF_(_re_) +_TA_|
|**Years**|(|2005_/_07)|(|2009_/_11)||(2013)||(2015_/_17)|
|Portuguese Scores|211.0|215.2|226.0|223.0|237.9|227.3|257.8|239.6|
||(40.3)|(40.5)|(44.0)|(42.5)|(46.3)|(43.7)|(47.4)|(44.5)|
|Mathematics Scores|222.8|228.4|230.8|229.8|242.2|231.9|259.6|240.3|
||(38.9)|(40.4)|(44.8)|(42.1)|(48.8)|(42.8)|(51.1)|(43.0)|
|% of boys|0.45|0.40|0.46|0.41|0.48|0.44|0.48|0.46|
||(0.49)|(0.49)|(0.49)|(0.49)|(0.50)|(0.49)|(0.50)|(0.49)|
|% of white students|0.24|0.27|0.22|0.25|0.20|0.23|0.20|0.22|
||(0.43)|(0.44)|(0.41)|(0.43)|(0.40)|(0.42)|(0.40)|(0.41)|
|Student Age (in years)|15.2|15.6|15.2|15.4|14.9|15.1|14.9|15.1|
||(1.56)|(1.76)|(1.31)|(1.50)|(1.18)|(1.35)|(1.01)|(1.24)|
|Household Size|5.23|5.06|4.99|4.90|5.40|5.46|5.31|5.38|
||(1.67)|(1.63)|(1.53)|(1.49)|(1.24)|(1.21)|(1.22)|(1.20)|
|% of Mothers with Diploma|0.12|0.16|0.13|0.17|0.17|0.19|0.19|0.22|
||(0.33)|(0.36)|(0.33)|(0.38)|(0.38)|(0.39)|(0.39)|(0.41)|
|**# of Student Observations**|23,285|10,793|81,125|27,958|40,409|14,619|84,395|32,747|

**Notes.** This table presents descriptive statistics of students at the border between _Ceará_ and adjacent states. All data is from the _Sistema de Avaliação da Educação Básica_ (SAEB), a national assessment implemented biannually. In additional to _Ceará_ , we consider the following adjacent states: _Piauí_ , _Rio Grande do Norte_ , _Paraíba_ and _Pernambuco_ . The definition of border considers the first _three_ municipalities on each side of _Ceará_ ’s border. Panel A considers 5<sup>_th_</sup> graders. Panel B is for 9<sup>_th_</sup> graders. The baseline period of 2005 and 2007 is when neither _Ceará_ nor adjacent states had implemented _RBF_ incentives. The column " _RBF_ " considers 2009 in Panel A, because the _RBF_ law started on January 1, 2009. For 5<sup>_th_</sup> grades, technical assistance ( _TA_ ) initiated in 2011, presented in column " _RBF_ + _TA_ " in Panel A. In Panel B, the column ‘’ _RBF_ ( _re_ )" presents the statistics for 9<sup>_th_</sup> grade when the RBF formula was re-calibrated in 2013, but _TA_ was offered only to 5<sup>_th_</sup> grade classes. In Panels A and B, periods of re-calibration and TA are shown in columns " _RBF_ ( _re_ ) + _TA_ ".

at the municipal level from the _Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística_ (IBGE) and live birth records from the Ministry of Health.<sup>13</sup> To investigate potential RBF mechanisms, we use municipal public spending data provided by the National Treasury Bureau ( _Secretaria do Tesouro_

> 13Municipal data on live births can be obtained at the url: `http://www2.datasus.gov.br/DATASUS/index. php?area=0205` .

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