Ten-Year Impacts of Burkina Faso’s BRIGHT Program

APPENDIX D
MATHEMATICA POLICY RESEARCH
of the intervention. The dashed line in Figure D.2 depicts additional grades gained for each
cohort.
We also adjust the estimated effects for of children who attend school from 2036 to 2045 to
account for the fact that the government schools close in 2035. To do this, we estimate equation
A.l using the highest grade achieved as the dependent variable without any control variables, to
determine that in unselected villages at the cutoff, the average highest grade obtained is 1.56. For
each year that a child in a given cohort attends a BRIGHT school when the corresponding
government school is closed, we increase the estimated effect of BRIGHT by one-sixth of 1.56. 74
Next, we use the estimates of returns to schooling from the Mincerian regressions to
calculate the returns to the additional grades gained by each cohort. This is done by multiplying
the Mincerian regression estimates by the additional grades gained for a cohort. As noted above,
we use two estimates for returns to schooling—a high-return estimate of 0.16 and a low-return
estimate of 0.07. For the 1994 cohort, which was exposed to the intervention for one year and
gained 0.1 additional grades, the return in the high-return scenario is then calculated as 0.16
times 0.1, or 0.016. Similarly, the calculated return in the low-return scenario is 0.07 times 0.1,
or 0.007.
Fourth, we calculate the annual marginal benefits for each cohort over the average annual
earnings of $643 for the working-age population in Burkina Faso—the average earnings when
there has been no exposure to the BRIGHT programs. The calculation of the returns for a given
child is illustrated in Table V.7 for children in the 1994 and 1999 cohorts. To drive the cohortlevel
benefits, we then multiply the child-level benefits by the average cohort size, 17. For
example, for the 1994 cohort, the total marginal benefits under the high-return to schooling
scenario are $10 times 17, or $170. These yearly marginal benefits are realized by the children in
the 1994 cohort for all the years they are in the labor market until they exit after 2059 at age 65.
Finally, using the estimates of the marginal benefits for each cohort exposed to the 40-year
operation of the BRIGHT programs, we estimate the marginal benefits of the intervention for
each year the benefits are realized between 2009 and 2104, as plotted in Figure D.1. In each year,
the total marginal benefits are the sum of benefits for each cohort earning additional earnings in
the labor market. For example, only the 1994 cohort enters the labor market in 2009, so the
marginal benefits of the BRIGHT programs in that year are just the marginal benefits earned by
this cohort. In 2010, two cohorts (1994 and 1995) earn benefits in the labor market. Thus, the
total marginal benefits of the BRIGHT programs in 2010 are the sum of the marginal benefits
earned by these two cohorts.
4. Benefit-cost ratio and ERR calculation
To calculate the net benefits and benefit-cost ratios for the BRIGHT programs, the marginal
costs and benefits schedules presented in Figure D.1 need to be expressed in values in the same
period so that they are comparable. We do this by expressing the value of the marginal costs and
the benefits at the start of the intervention in 2006, discounting future costs and benefits. We use
a discount rate of 10 percent to calculate the net present value of costs and benefits in 2006. We
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We choose one-sixth because students are assumed to be exposed to the BRIGHT programs for a maximum of six
years.
D.22