DUTCH AREA-BASED SUBSIDY FOR DISADVANTAGED PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS REVISITED

In this paper, I evaluate a Dutch area-based subsidy scheme that targets disadvantaged pupils in primary education. In line with the purpose of this subsidy scheme, I hypothesise that the extra funding has a positive impact on pupil performance. The strict eligibility rules of the subsidy scheme allow for a regression discontinuity design, which analyses a select group of observations. I use school-level government data from three school years covering the period 2013 to 2016. Using ordinary least squares models I find no evidence to support the hypothesis.