Leos-Urbel Jacob, Schwartz Amy Ellen, Weinstein Meryle, Corcoran Sean
Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, Institute for Education and Social Policy, New York University, 665 Broadway, Suite 805, New York, NY 10012, USA.
Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, Institute for Education and Social Policy, Steinhardt School of Education, New York University, 295 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012, USA.
Econ Educ Rev. 2013 Oct 1;36:88-107. doi: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2013.06.007.
This paper examines the impact of the implementation of a universal free school breakfast policy on meals program participation, attendance, and academic achievement. In 2003, New York City made school breakfast free for all students regardless of income, while increasing the price of lunch for those ineligible for meal subsidies. Using a difference-indifference estimation strategy, we derive plausibly causal estimates of the policy's impact by exploiting within and between group variation in school meal pricing before and after the policy change. Our estimates suggest that the policy resulted in small increases in breakfast participation both for students who experienced a decrease in the price of breakfast and for free-lunch eligible students who experienced no price change. The latter suggests that universal provision may alter behavior through mechanisms other than price, highlighting the potential merits of universal provision over targeted services. We find limited evidence of policy impacts on academic outcomes.
本文考察了实施普遍免费学校早餐政策对膳食计划参与率、出勤率和学业成绩的影响。2003年，纽约市为所有学生提供免费学校早餐，不论其收入如何，同时提高了那些没有资格获得膳食补贴的学生的午餐价格。我们采用双重差分估计策略，通过利用政策变化前后学校膳食定价在组内和组间的差异，得出该政策影响的合理因果估计。我们的估计表明，该政策使得早餐价格下降的学生以及早餐价格未变但符合免费午餐资格的学生的早餐参与率均有小幅上升。后者表明，普遍提供服务可能通过价格以外的机制改变行为，凸显了普遍提供服务相对于定向服务的潜在优势。我们发现该政策对学业成绩产生影响的证据有限。
