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Fighting Corruption in Education: What Works and Who Benefits?

Author

Listed:
  • orcan, Oana B

    (University of Gothenburg)

  • Lindahl, Mikael

    (Uppsala Center for Labor Studies)

  • Mitrut, Andreea

    (Uppsala Center for Labor Studies)

Abstract
We investigate the efficiency and distributional consequences of a corruptionfighting initiative in Romania targeting the endemic fraud in a high-stakes high school exit exam, which introduced CCTV monitoring of the exam and credible punishment threats. We find that punishment coupled with monitoring was effective in reducing corruption. Estimating the heterogeneous impact for students of different ability, poverty status, and gender, we show that fighting corruption led to efficiency gains (ability predicts exam outcomes better) but also to a worrisome score gap increase between poor and non-poor students. Consequently, the poor students have reduced chances to enter an elite university.

Suggested Citation

  • orcan, Oana B & Lindahl, Mikael & Mitrut, Andreea, 2015. "Fighting Corruption in Education: What Works and Who Benefits?," Working Paper Series, Center for Labor Studies 2015:1, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:uulswp:2015_001
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    corruption; high-stakes exam; bribes; monitoring and punishment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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