Effects of free textbooks on academic performance: Evidence from China's compulsory education

• Published date: 01 November 2023
• Author: Xinran Liu
• Date: 01 November 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/rode.13032

REGULAR ARTICLE

Effects of free textbooks on academic

performance: Evidence from China's

compulsory education

Xinran Liu

School of Economics and Management,

Qilu University of Technology (Shandong

Academy of Sciences), Jinan, China

Correspondence

Xinran Liu, School of Economics and

Management, Qilu University of

Technology (Shandong Academy of

Sciences), Jinan, China.

Email: xinranliu@qlu.edu.cn

Funding information

Department of Education of Shandong

Province, Grant/Award Numbers:

J18RA185, YC2019033; Office of

Philosophy and Social Sciences of

Shandong Province, Grant/Award

Number: 19CQXJ22

Abstract

Since little is known about the effects of free textbooks

on compulsory school students in China, this paper

examines the effects of free textbooks on the academic

performance of Chinese middle school students. It

combines propensity score matching and difference-

in-difference estimation to control for both observable

and unobservable factors that affect the probability of

obtaining free textbooks as well as students' academic

performance. Results indicate that free textbooks signif-

icantly improve the midterm scores of girls and rural

students, and the effects vary across different subjects.

Moreover, the impact mechanisms of free textbooks are

different for different groups and different subjects.

KEYWORDS

academic performance, China, compulsory education,

education subsidy, free textbook

JEL CLASSIFICATION

I220, I240, I280

1|INTRODUCTION

Children's human capital accumulation is one of the most effective ways of reducing poverty

(Behrman & Sengupta, 2005). Textbooks are important resources for education, and textbook

expenses are non-negligible costs all through a child's school years (Martin et al., 2017). For

those who cannot afford textbooks, several alternatives can be chosen: to replicate textbooks by

handwriting (using a copy machine may cost even more than buying new textbooks), to share

Received: 26 January 2022 Revised: 3 May 2023 Accepted: 4 July 2023

DOI: 10.1111/rode.13032

2518 © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Rev Dev Econ. 2023;27:2518–2537.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/rode

textbooks with those who have them, to purchase second-hand books, or even do not use text-

books at all. Either of these options may have a worse effect on the outcome of learning than

owning whole new textbooks. For example, it is hard to guarantee the quality of hand-copied

textbooks or used ones (e.g., illustrations cannot be replicated by hand), and sharing a textbook

between two students shortens the time of using it for each of the two. Therefore, many coun-

tries have implemented various policies that provide free textbooks or textbook funding for stu-

dents, and such policies have attracted a lot of research. Studies have found that the availability

of textbooks is closely related to the academic performance or course selection of college stu-

dents (e.g., Fialkowski et al., 2020; Hilton & Laman, 2012; Landrum et al., 2012). Regarding

compulsory or primary education, an earlier study by Lockheed et al. (1986) found that in

Thailand, textbooks play an important role in improving students' achievement. Holden (2016)

found a positive effect of textbook funding on elementary school students, but no effect on mid-

dle school or high school students. The influence of textbooks may be related to students' char-

acteristics, for instance, Glewwe et al. (2009) discovered that textbooks are only helpful for

those who have a better academic background. These findings indicate that the availability of

textbooks may have different impacts under different situations or among different groups

of students.

However, barely any attention has been paid to the effects of free textbooks on compulsory

school students in China, where the expenditure for free textbooks is a large burden on the bud-

get of central and local governments, and this is the major incentive for this paper. It aims to

explore the relationship between free textbooks and students' academic performance. The first

question this paper is trying to answer is that for Chinese students at the stage of compulsory

education, do free textbooks significantly improve their academic performance? Furthermore,

free textbooks may affect academic performance through two channels: (i) Children who can-

not afford textbooks can then have whole new or almost new

1

textbooks of their own;

(ii) Students who can afford textbooks can then save money and make other investments (such

as buying extracurricular books, taking extracurricular classes, buying more nutritious foods,

etc.), which also affect academic performance. Therefore, the second question this paper is try-

ing to explore is: through which channel do free textbooks affect students' academic

performance?

Although the cost of textbooks in China is much lower than that in Western countries, con-

sidering the income level of Chinese residents, especially those in rural areas, this is still a large

burden for families. To reduce the costs of education for rural families, the central and local

governments have implemented a series of policies, among which the most famous one is

known as “two waivers, one subsidy”(TWOS), which was implemented in 2001. It waives the

textbook fees and miscellaneous fees for rural students in certain areas and provides a living

subsidy for rural students from low-income families. The areas and populations covered by this

policy increased year by year, and gradually began to cover urban areas. By 2017, the textbook

fees for students in the 9-year compulsory education were completely waived nationwide,

regardless of whether the students were from urban or rural areas.

Therefore, during 2001–2017, whether a student can get textbooks for free depends on

whether the area where he or she is located is covered by TWOS, and it also depends

on whether the local government has other policies that relate to textbook fees. The differences

between different regions and groups during this period provide us with an opportunity to study

the impact of free textbooks on students' school performance.

The present paper focuses on the impact of free textbooks (including free textbooks from

either TWOS or other textbook-related policies) on the academic performance of junior high

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