The heterogeneous effect of information on student performance: Evidence from a randomized control trial in Mexico

Abstract

We use data from the randomized control trial of the Percepciones pilot to study whether providing 10th grade students with information about the average earnings associated with different educational attainments, life expectancy, and obtaining funding for higher education can contribute to improving student outcomes. We find that the intervention had no effects on a proxy for on-time high school completion, but a positive and significant impact on standardized test scores and self-reported measures of effort. The effects on standardized test scores are larger for girls and for students from households with relatively high incomes. We also find positive, but not statistically significant effects, on the probability of taking a university entry exam and of obtaining a high score in the exam.