Central mandates and local incentives: The Colombia education voucher program

In decentralized education systems programs that promote central mandates m ay have to be devolved to local governments, communities, and providers. Wh en participation by local governments and providers is voluntary rather tha n compulsory, the determinants of program placement are important in predic ting potential benefits to individuals. This article analyzes incentives fo r municipalities and private schools to participate in Colombia's voucher p rogram. It finds that the demand for secondary education relative to the ca pacity of public schools and the availability of spaces in Private schools in the municipality were key predictors of municipal participation, whereas the number of underserved students had a nonlinear effect on participation . Schools whose educational quality was moderate and charged moderate tuiti on fees were the most likely to participate; the program was less attractiv e to schools whose quality and fees were high and to schools whose quality and fees were low.