Voucher Program Research Articles

A Wise Investment: The Productivity of Public and Private Schools of Choice in Wisconsin

I calculate the cost-effectiveness of private schools participating in school voucher programs, and independent charter schools, compared to district-run public schools in Wisconsin for the 2017-18 school year. I calculate cost-effectiveness by dividing the Accountability Report Card score for each school by the public dollars invested in each school. Using a conservative analytic approach, I find that private and independent charter schools tend to be more cost-effective than district-run public schools in the state overall and for the vast majority of individual cities.

Feedback Effects and Coalition Politics in Education Reforms: A Comparison of School Voucher Programs in Sweden and Wisconsin

Since 1990, the most important trend in the evolution of education systems in advanced democracies has been the spread of school choice policies. Wisconsin and Sweden were early movers, creating their school voucher programs in 1990 and 1991 respectively. From the outset, there was a difference between the two programs: Sweden’s vouchers were universal, Wisconsin’s were means tested. This paper explains why, arguing that education policies created different grievances in these countries, which influenced the nature of the political coalitions supporting school choice. Swedish policy makers built an encompassing coalition, whereas Wisconsinites constructed a narrower coalition formed of unusual bedfellows.

PIH50 EFFECT OF INTRODUCTION OF MATERNAL HEALTH VOUCHERS ON QUALITY OF MATERNAL HEALTH CARE SERVICES IN RURAL BANGLADESH: A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL SURVEY

The Demand Side Financing - Maternal Health Voucher Scheme (DSF-MHVS) was launched in 2006 in Bangladesh with the aim to improve maternal health and to increase safe delivery in institutional settings. Although the MHVS has improved utilization of maternal health services, nothing is known about the effect of the program on the quality of delivery care. This study measures the quality of maternal health services before and after the implementation of the program. Data were collected from 22 regional health facilities in 2010 and 2012. Half of these facilities was control facilities score-matched with facilities in voucher program areas. A difference-in-difference (DID) analysis was conducted to measure the quality indicators (on a scale of 0-100) such as quality of comprehensive maternity functions (based on 12 indicators), quality of labor-room preparedness (average of 10 indicators), quality of labor-room equipment (average of 8 indicators) and quality of operation-theater equipment (average of 9 indicators). Satisfaction of clients and delivery volume were also measured in both control and intervention areas Findings suggest that none of the quality scores improved significantly after 18 months of voucher implementation. However, number of facilities providing more than 500 deliveries per year became doubled in voucher areas. Findings suggest that aggregated quality scores did not significantly improve after voucher introduction meaning voucher had no imapct in quality improvement of delivery care. The volume of 500 delivery increased in voucher areas since the program was targeted to increase the institutional delivery.

A taxonomy and results from a comprehensive review of 28 maternal health voucher programmes.

It is increasingly clear that Millennium Development Goal 4 and 5 will not be achieved in many low- and middle-income countries with the weakest gains among the poor. Recognizing that there are large inequalities in reproductive health outcomes, the post-2015 agenda on universal health coverage will likely generate strategies that target resources where maternal and newborn deaths are the highest. In 2012, the United States Agency for International Development convened an Evidence Summit to review the knowledge and gaps on the utilization of financial incentives to enhance the quality and uptake of maternal healthcare. The goal was to provide donors and governments of the low- and middle-income countries with evidence-informed recommendations on practice, policy, and strategies regarding the use of financial incentives, including vouchers, to enhance the demand and supply of maternal health services. The findings in this paper are intended to guide governments interested in maternal health voucher programmes with recommendations for sustainable implementation and impact. The Evidence Summit undertook a systematic review of five financing strategies. This paper presents the methods and findings for vouchers, building on a taxonomy to catalogue knowledge about voucher programme design and functionality. More than 120 characteristics under five major categories were identified: programme principles (objectives and financing); governance and management; benefits package and beneficiary targeting; providers (contracting and service pricing); and implementation arrangements (marketing, claims processing, and monitoring and evaluation). Among the 28 identified maternal health voucher programmes, common characteristics included: a stated objective to increase the use of services among the means-tested poor; contracted-out programme management; contracting either exclusively private facilities or a mix of public and private providers; prioritizing community-based distribution of vouchers; and tracking individual claims for performance purposes. Maternal voucher programmes differed on whether contracted providers were given training on clinical or administrative issues; whether some form of service verification was undertaken at facility or community-level; and the relative size of programme management costs in the overall programme budget. Evidence suggests voucher programmes can serve populations with national-level impact. Reaching scale depends on whether the voucher programme can: (i) keep management costs low, (ii) induce a large demand-side response among the bottom two quintiles, and (iii) achieve a quality of care that translates a greater number of facility-based deliveries into a reduction in maternal morbidity and mortality.

The Effect of the Louisiana Scholarship Program on College Entrance

The Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) is a private school voucher program available to families who have incomes no greater than 250 percent of the federal poverty line and whose children attend a low performing public school. It began as a pilot program in New Orleans in 2008 and was expanded statewide in 2012. Previous evaluations of the LSP generally found negative impacts of the program on math and English language arts test scores. In this study, we evaluate the effects of the program on college enrollment for the first cohort of students eligible to enter college by 2017-18. Using lottery assignment for a student’s first choice private school, we are able to identify the causal effect of being awarded a scholarship on student attainment for just over 1,000 randomized students who were in the seventh through twelfth grades during the first year of the program. We find that 60% of treatment students who won a lottery and enrolled in their first choice private schools enter college, compared to 59.5% of control students. This difference in not statistically significant. We find no differential treatment effects when considering student enrollment in two- or four-year post-secondary institutions.

School Vouchers, Segregation, and Consumer Sovereignty

ABSTRACTWhile the primary focus of ethical discussions involving school voucher programs has been on the relationship—and possible disconnect—between educational outcomes and profit motivations, recently this focus has shifted to the relationship between consumer sovereignty and racial segregation. A growing critique of private voucher and charter programs claims that they are ethically problematic because they lead to racial and economic segregation of students, are linked historically to racial segregation, or both. As a result, both school choice advocates who support these programs for educational reasons and businesses that profit from them are said to be ethically blameworthy. We show that these claims are rooted in a misrepresentation of both the underlying historical events and empirical data. The article concludes by presenting an ethical case for educational competition on the grounds that, under certain circumstances, such programs tend to reduce race and economic class segregation.

Sources of isomorphism in the Milwaukee voucher school sector

In this article, 25 years of data are utilized from nonprofit schools operating in the United States’ oldest and largest private school voucher program to test theories of isomorphism. We find that startup and religious schools belonging to an umbrella organization such as an archdiocese are particularly likely to serve similar student bodies at similar costs. In addition, we find that isomorphic pressures increase the longer a school participates in the Milwaukee voucher program, and that increased program regulation is related to increased sector isomorphism. The results illustrate the difficulty of using New Public Management style reforms, at scale, to encourage a diversity of nongovernment providers to provide a service traditionally provided by the public sector. The results will be of interest to scholars studying nonprofit institutional theories, school choice, and New Public Management style reforms.

Household Energy Costs and the Housing Choice Voucher Program: Do Utility Allowances Pay the Bills?

ABSTRACTUtility bills present a hidden threat to the affordability of a family’s housing—unknown before a household moves into a unit, and unpredictable from one month to the next. In theory, tenants receiving Housing Choice Vouchers are shielded from energy cost burdens through utility allowances built into rent subsidies. However, tenants may face actual energy costs that far outstrip allowances, effectively rendering their housing unaffordable. This study compares utility allowances with electric bills for over 19,000 Housing Choice Voucher households in four Florida cities and identifies household and unit characteristics associated with excessive costs. Nearly half of tenants in the sample faced bills in excess of posted allowances, with households renting single-family homes particularly at risk. On the other hand, state-sponsored affordable housing developments, such as those subsidized by the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, offered voucher tenants the chance to live in modern units with lower energy use and a better fit between costs and the utility allowance. The findings have implications for housing authorities and tenants seeking to reduce energy cost burdens.

Are family planning vouchers effective in increasing use, improving equity and reaching the underserved? An evaluation of a voucher program in Pakistan

BackgroundLow modern contraceptive prevalence rate and high unmet need in Pakistan aggravates the vulnerabilities of unintended pregnancies and births contributing to maternal morbidity and mortality. This research aims to assess the effectiveness of a free, single-purpose voucher approach in increasing the uptake, use and better targeting of modern contraceptives among women from the lowest two wealth quintiles in rural and urban communities of Punjab province, Pakistan.MethodsA quasi-interventional study with pre- and post-phases was implemented across an intervention (Chakwal) and a control district (Bhakkar) in Punjab province (August 2012–January 2015). To detect a 15% increase in modern contraceptive prevalence rate compared to baseline, 1276 women were enrolled in each arm. Difference-in-Differences (DID) estimates are reported for key variables, and concentration curves and index are described for equity.ResultsCompared to baseline, awareness of contraceptives increased by 30 percentage points among population in the intervention area. Vouchers also resulted in a net increase of 16% points in current contraceptive use and 26% points in modern methods use. The underserved population demonstrated better knowledge and utilized the modern methods more than their affluent counterparts. Intervention area also reported a low method-specific discontinuation (13.7%) and high method-specific switching rates (46.6%) amongst modern contraceptive users during the past 24 months. The concentration index indicated that voucher use was more common among the poor and vouchers seem to reduce the inequality in access to modern methods across wealth quintiles.ConclusionVouchers can substantially expand contraceptive access and choice among the underserved populations. Vouchers are a good financing tool to improve equity, increase access, and quality of services for the underserved thus contributing towards achieving universal health coverage targets.

The Effects of Regulations on Private School Choice Program Participation: Experimental Evidence from California and New York

Although private school voucher programs provide subsidies to students for tuition and other education-related costs, private school leaders weigh program participation against any associated regulatory costs. The higher the regulatory costs of participation, the less likely a private school is to participate in a school voucher program. Since we do not know with certainty which regulations will be viewed by school leaders as more or less costly, we explore whether specific regulations that are common to private school choice programs do or do not deter likely voucher program participation. We use surveys to randomly assign different regulations to 4,825 private school leaders in the states of California and New York and ask them whether or not they would participate in a new private school choice program during the following school year. Relative to no regulations, our most conservative models find that open-enrollment mandates reduce the likelihood that private school leaders are certain to participate in a hypothetical choice program by about 19 percentage points, or 60 percent. State standardized testing requirements reduce the likelihood that private school leaders are certain to participate by 9 percentage points, or 29 percent. We find no evidence to suggest that the prohibition of copayment or nationally norm-referenced testing requirements affect the overall willingness to participate in a school choice program.

How Federal Tax Law Rewards Segregation

Residual, de facto segregation is among the most enduring barriers to equal opportunity in America. Nearly five decades after the Fair Housing Act of 1968, Blacks and Latinos still tend to live in neighborhoods where the majority of residents are people of color. Such racial segregation is often accompanied by economic segregation. Meanwhile, sociologists, housing law scholars, and poverty law experts have stressed the importance of residential location to the impact of poverty and the potential for upward economic mobility. But an unlikely source of federal housing law—the tax code—may interfere with efforts to promote more integrated communities. This Article argues that federal tax law rewards White-flight and economic segregation and, as a result, may exacerbate the enduring effects of past policies like redlining and exclusionary zoning, while also limiting the effectiveness of non-tax federal programs intended to promote housing choice, such as the Section 8 tenant voucher program. The Article begins by using publicly available data from the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to map the flow of mortgage interest deduction benefits and the location of low-income housing tax credit properties in a representative city, Philadelphia. Next, the Article uses thought experiments to demonstrate how features of the tax law create monetary incentives to reinforce the segregation patterns reflected in the spatial distribution of these tax-subsidies. Finally, the Article sets forth recommendations for tax policy reforms that would better promote integrated communities.

The effect of market conditions on the housing outcomes of subsidized households: the case of the US voucher programme

Since being created in the 1970s, housing vouchers have become the primary mode of federal housing support for low-income households in the US. The voucher programme was designed to provide recipients with the mobility needed to secure higher quality housing in neighbourhoods of their choice. Decades of analysis suggest that the programme has failed to produce the favourable outcomes envisioned by policymakers. To add to our understanding of the outcomes of this important federal programme, this paper seeks to underscore the importance of context-dependent policy analysis. In particular, this study analyses the impact of housing market conditions on the outcomes achieved by voucher recipients. Using neighbourhood and housing outcome data from the American Housing Survey, and median rent and rental market vacancy data, this paper demonstrates the important role that market conditions play in programme outcomes. The results from this study suggest that voucher recipients are successful at improving housing unit quality outcomes regardless of market conditions, but the ability to move to a better neighbourhood is a function of vacancy rates.

Competitive Impacts of Means-Tested Vouchers on Public School Performance: Evidence from Louisiana

Given the significant growth rate and geographic expansion of private school choice programs over the past two decades, it is important to examine how traditional public schools respond to the sudden injection of competition for students and resources. Although prior studies of this nature have been limited to Florida and Milwaukee, using multiple analytic strategies this paper examines the competitive impacts of the Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) to determine its achievement impacts on students in affected public schools. Serving 4,954 students in its first year of statewide expansion, this targeted school voucher program provides public funds for low-income students in low-performing public schools to enroll in participating private schools across the state of Louisiana. Using (1) a school fixed effects approach and (2) a regression discontinuity framework to examine the achievement impacts of the LSP on students in affected public schools, this competitive effects analysis reveals neutral to positive impacts that are small in magnitude. Policy implications are discussed.

Initiation and continuity of maternal healthcare: examining the role of vouchers and user-fee removal on maternal health service use in Kenya.

This study explores the relationship between two health financing initiatives on women’s progression through the maternal health continuum in Kenya: a subsidized reproductive health voucher programme (2006–16) and the introduction of free maternity services in all government facilities (2013). Using cross-sectional survey data, we ran three multivariable logistic regression models examining the effects of the voucher programme, free maternity policy, health insurance and other determinants on (1) early antenatal care (ANC) initiation (first visit within the first trimester of pregnancy), (2) receiving continuous care (1+ ANC, facility birth, 1+ post-natal care (PNC) check) and (3) completing the maternal health pathway as recommended (4+ ANC, facility birth, 1+ PNC, with first check occurring within 48 h of delivery). Full implementation of the voucher programme was positively associated with receiving continuous care among users of 1+ ANC [interaction term adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 1.33, P = 0.014]. Early ANC initiation (aOR: 1.32, P = 0.001) and use of private sector ANC (aOR: 1.93, P < 0.001) were also positively associated with use of continuous care among ANC users. Among continuous care users, early ANC was associated with increased odds of completing the maternal health pathway as recommended (aOR: 3.80, P < 0.001). Higher parity was negatively associated with all three outcomes, while having health insurance was positively associated with each outcome. The impact of other sociodemographic factors such as maternal age, education, wealth quintile, urban residence, and employment varied by outcome; however, the findings generally suggest that marginalized women faced greater barriers to early ANC initiation and continuity of care. Health financing and women’s timing and source of ANC are strongly related to their subsequent progression through the maternal health pathway. To increase continuity of care and improve maternal health outcomes, policymakers must therefore focus on equitably reducing financial and other barriers to care seeking and improving quality of care throughout the continuum.

Private School Choice and Character: More Evidence from Milwaukee

We examine the effects of Milwaukee’s school voucher program on adult criminal activity and paternity suits. Using matched student-level data, we find that exposure to the program in 8th or 9th grade predicts lower rates of conviction for criminal activity and lower rates of paternity suits by ages 25 to 28. Specifically, exposure to the MPCP is associated with a reduction of around 53 percent in drug convictions, 86 percent in property damage convictions, and 38 percent in paternity suits. The program effects tend to be largest for males and students with lower levels of academic achievement at baseline.

Impact Of The Priority Review Voucher Program On Drug Development For Rare Pediatric Diseases.

Only an estimated 5percent of rare pediatric diseases have a treatment, although collectively they affect more than ten million children in the US. To stimulate drug development for rare pediatric diseases, Congress expanded the priority review voucher (PRV) program in 2012. A pediatric PRV, which can be sold to another manufacturer, requires the FDA to provide priority six-month review rather than the standard ten-month review to another drug of the company's choosing. We compared rare pediatric disease drugs eligible for a PRV and rare adult disease drugs (which are not eligible for a PRV). We found that compared to drugs for rare adult diseases, drugs for rare pediatric diseases progressed more quickly through all phases of clinical testing and were more likely to be first-in-class. The voucher program was not associated with a change in the rate of new pediatric drugs starting or completing clinical testing, but there was a significant increase in the rate of progress from Phase I to Phase II clinical trials after the program was implemented. New policies may be needed to expand the pipeline of therapies for rare pediatric diseases.

Lassa virus diversity and feasibility for universal prophylactic vaccine.

Lassa virus (LASV) is a highly prevalent mammarenavirus in West Africa and is maintained in nature in a persistently infected rodent host, Mastomys natalensis, which is widely spread in sub-Saharan Africa. LASV infection of humans can cause Lassa fever (LF), a disease associated with high morbidity and significant mortality. Recent evidence indicates an LASV expansion outside its traditional endemic areas. In 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) included LASV in top-priority pathogens and released a Target Product Profile (TPP) for vaccine development. Likewise, in 2018, the US Food and Drug Administration added LF to a priority review voucher program to encourage the development of preventive and therapeutics measures. In this article, we review recent progress in LASV vaccine research and development with a focus on the impact of LASV genetic and biological diversity on the design and development of vaccine candidates meeting the WHO’s TPP for an LASV vaccine.

Do Small Area Fair Market Rents Reduce Racial Disparities in the Voucher Program?

ABSTRACTA lawsuit that argued that the method used to calculate rent limits in the Housing Choice Voucher Program promoted racial segregation in Dallas, Texas, resulted in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development developing zip code-based voucher rent limits in Dallas in 2011. This rent calculation approach was then expanded to five other demonstration sites in 2012. This article analyzes whether adjusting voucher rent limits reduces a minority household’s likelihood of living in a high-minority neighborhood, improves their likelihood of living in a higher opportunity neighborhood, and reduces the disparity in location outcomes between minority and White households in the voucher program. This article finds evidence of improvements in the location outcomes of Black and Hispanic voucher households because of the use of zip code-based rent limits, but that these results are only marginal with respect to the persistent disparities in outcomes based on race within the voucher program.

Side effects in education: Winners and losers in school voucher programs

Even the most effective education reforms and initiatives are unlikely to have a uniform effect on all students. In fact, much like in medicine, some beneficial efforts can have adverse side effects. Yong Zhao takes up this idea as it applies to school choice and voucher programs. When researchers tout the benefits of vouchers, they focus on the average effect of such programs on participating students. But because some students experience negative effects, Zhao argues that vouchers must not be considered a panacea for improving student outcomes.

Racial rent differences in U.S. housing markets: Evidence from the housing voucher program

AbstractThis paper exploits an unusually rich data set to estimate racial differences in the rents paid for identical housing in the same neighborhood in U.S. housing markets and to show how they vary with neighborhood racial composition. Results suggest that black households pay more for identical housing in identical neighborhoods than their white counterparts and that this rent gap increases with the fraction of the neighborhood white. In neighborhoods with the smallest fraction white, the premium is about 0.6%. In neighborhoods with the largest fraction white, it is about 2.4%. This pattern holds across different types of areas.