The International Monetary Fund’s intervention in education systems and its impact on children’s chances of completing school

Abstract

Enabling children to acquire an education is one of the most effective means to reduce inequality, poverty, and ill-health globally. While in normal times a government controls its educational policies, during times of macroeconomic instability, that control may shift to supporting international organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF). While much research has focused on which sectors has been affected by IMF policies, scholars have devoted little attention to the policy content of IMF interventions affecting the education sector and children’s education outcomes: denoted IMF-education policies. This article evaluates the extent which IMF-education policies exist in all programs and how these policies and IMF programs affect children’s likelihood of completing schools. While IMF-education policies have a small adverse effect yet statistically insignificant on children’s probability of completing school, these policies moderate effect heterogeneity for IMF programs. The effect of IMF programs (joint set of policies) adversely effect children’s chances of completing school by six percentage points. By analyzing how IMF-education policies but also how IMF programs affect the education sector in low- and middle-income countries, scholars will gain a deeper understanding of how such policies will likely affect downstream outcomes.

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