Aid to Educate? The Impact of Foreign Aid on Local School Enrolment in Nigeria

Although much attention has been paid to the effect of aid on educational enrolment at the country level, there is a clear knowledge gap at the subnational level. To fill this gap, we examine the impact on educational enrolment of geographical proximity to aid projects by combining individual-level information on education from six Nigerian Demographic and Health Surveys with spatiotemporal data from AidData on the precise location and timing of aid projects in Nigeria for the period 1990–2015. The results of our difference-in-differences estimates suggest that geographical proximity to active aid projects at school-starting age increases the probability that an individual will enrol in school, at both primary and secondary levels. The effect of aid on school enrolment is particularly pronounced for individuals from less wealthy backgrounds. We also find evidence for a clear selection effect: Aid disproportionately reaches areas with higher enrolment rates in the first place.