Performance-Based Financing for Education in Cameroon

Last registered on October 31, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Performance-Based Financing for Education in Cameroon
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013589
Initial registration date
July 05, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
July 08, 2024, 1:45 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
October 31, 2025, 2:24 PM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
Cameroon
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Todd Pugatch
Affiliation
University at Buffalo
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Benjamin Fomba
PI Affiliation
Université de Yaoundé II
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Carrel Fokou
PI Affiliation
University of Maroua
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Lontum Nchadze
PI Affiliation
Oregon State University
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Eric Djimeu Wouabe
PI Affiliation
Results for Development
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2024-02-01
End date
2025-07-01
Keywords
Education, Governance
Additional Keywords
education finance, public sector performance incentives, Cameroon
JEL code(s)
I22, I28, O12, H52
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This trial evaluates a performance-based financing (PBF) program for primary schools in Cameroon. The main goals are to quantify the causal impacts of PBF on outcomes including school governance, teaching quality, school access, and student learning. The trial also aims to isolate the effects of PBF school performance incentives from PBF components which do not depend on school performance.

The evaluation design has two components: 1) A non-experimental comparison of schools eligible for PBF to those not eligible, using methods like difference-in-differences to strengthen causal inference. 2) A cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) that randomly assigns PBF-eligible schools to receive different combinations of PBF funding components: inputs-only (entry and equity bonuses), incentives-only (performance and progress bonuses), or inputs plus incentives. The RCT design will measure the effects of incentives vs. inputs. The RCT design does not have a pure control group.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Djimeu Wouabe , Eric et al. 2025. "Performance-Based Financing for Education in Cameroon." AEA RCT Registry. October 31. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13589-1.2
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The performance-based financing (PBF) program provides primary schools in Cameroon with additional funds. To be eligible for PBF, schools must be in an arrondissement (district) in the program and meet basic eligibility criteria, including having a bank account and a school action plan. PBF includes four components. The first two components, which we call inputs, do not depend on school performance. The final two components, which we call incentives, depend on school performance.

Inputs components
1. Entry: XAF 100,000 (~USD 163), based on meeting basic school eligibility criteria.
2. Equity: Up to XAF 100,000 (~USD 163), based on high student-teacher ratio

Incentives components
3. Performance: Up to XAF 700,000 (~USD 1,140), based on an index of school performance including student/teacher attendance, lesson preparation rate, and community rating.
4. Progress: XAF 50,000 (~USD 81), awarded for progress on performance indicators.



Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2024-04-18
Intervention End Date
2025-07-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Student learning: math and French
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Student access: enrollment and attendance
Teaching quality (from surveys and classroom observations)
School governance (PBF performance indicators)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We randomly assigned schools in the RCT sample into three groups of 80 schools each:

1. Inputs-only PBF. The school is eligible for PBF entry and equity bonuses, but not performance or progress bonuses.
2. Incentives-only PBF. The school is eligible for PBF performance and progress bonuses, but not the entry and equity bonuses.
3. Inputs plus incentives PBF. The school is eligible for all PBF funds.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization in office by computer (Stata randtreat command)
Randomization Unit
School
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
240 schools
Sample size: planned number of observations
4,800 students (240 schools * 20 students/school)
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
1. Inputs-only PBF: 80 schools
2. Incentives-only PBF: 80 schools
3. Inputs plus incentives PBF: 80 schools
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
learning outcomes: 0.23 standard deviations (sd)
Supporting Documents and Materials

Documents

Document Name
Math student assessment (CEII) (English translation)
Document Type
survey_instrument
Document Description
File
Math student assessment (CEII) (English translation)

MD5: d57f66a68c7f902a17e36729d33f4f4f

SHA1: 765340daaec96ef9d288f893aa2c8e32b4493151

Uploaded At: October 31, 2025

Document Name
Teacher survey: endline (English)
Document Type
survey_instrument
Document Description
File
Teacher survey: endline (English)

MD5: 0db977806def33f5204f7145e862761e

SHA1: 8a8106cab2dcbd46477dbdbce14643e69e1211f1

Uploaded At: October 31, 2025

Document Name
Head teacher survey: endline (English)
Document Type
survey_instrument
Document Description
File
Head teacher survey: endline (English)

MD5: 41e6064733c6735ba58d558fdc8b8b90

SHA1: ac96e6fb2e120b68a351cfb8cdfa7d060594de3b

Uploaded At: October 31, 2025

Document Name
Parent survey: endline (English)
Document Type
Document Description
File
Parent survey: endline (English)

MD5: c8dc420399d7d292ee451334b56886b6

SHA1: bbe1b2e0bef5c702136db434525c89372f3cfd03

Uploaded At: October 31, 2025

Document Name
Student survey (grade CMII): endline (English)
Document Type
survey_instrument
Document Description
File
Student survey (grade CMII): endline (English)

MD5: df63c69b0746812e2681eaf21efdd2cf

SHA1: 971e2948eba8fd5c254f82efa03241a5b9427160

Uploaded At: October 31, 2025

Document Name
Head teacher survey: endline (French)
Document Type
survey_instrument
Document Description
File
Head teacher survey: endline (French)

MD5: 3eeb025447a3a36e72de9eedb40783f1

SHA1: 4018f2830d5bb2d4990c72dca4933c3355c0dbef

Uploaded At: October 31, 2025

Document Name
Teacher survey: endline (French)
Document Type
survey_instrument
Document Description
File
Teacher survey: endline (French)

MD5: 123f68caf64369b3434b0b80bb2b30df

SHA1: 1ab1e362518635b9cf84a879d5af049cb930aad5

Uploaded At: October 31, 2025

Document Name
Parent survey: endline (French)
Document Type
survey_instrument
Document Description
File
Parent survey: endline (French)

MD5: c2b927347cc90d36bb9890a935d4dffa

SHA1: 624a0b11afc42a707a9fd8711be42f043572a729

Uploaded At: October 31, 2025

Document Name
Student survey (grade CMII): endline (French)
Document Type
survey_instrument
Document Description
File
Student survey (grade CMII): endline (French)

MD5: 4ef62d40671d31fbed12cdc8986f6f93

SHA1: b0cfda7c6bb60bc5878ac92a39f8ebf16ce48240

Uploaded At: October 31, 2025

Document Name
French student assessment (CEII) (English translation)
Document Type
survey_instrument
Document Description
File
French student assessment (CEII) (English translation)

MD5: dbdd182997e0f466a2a88e71fb8fcfe2

SHA1: b2265055b277a6dcc6ad28b880e228a2d22b2ae1

Uploaded At: October 31, 2025

Document Name
French student assessment (CEII)
Document Type
survey_instrument
Document Description
File
French student assessment (CEII)

MD5: 7448cdcae9eea550cff27dc16430ba6f

SHA1: b1be88ee8726a8af164a0bf3cb491e64659bfe6c

Uploaded At: October 31, 2025

Document Name
French student assessment (CMII) (English translation)
Document Type
survey_instrument
Document Description
File
French student assessment (CMII) (English translation)

MD5: b79b840f1422bace2ec7f470282b085f

SHA1: defe1442f79ef8703737da7554f7907af12e9f34

Uploaded At: October 31, 2025

Document Name
French student assessment (CMII)
Document Type
survey_instrument
Document Description
File
French student assessment (CMII)

MD5: 748e9cfe8b374102e94f9ab5a8606ed1

SHA1: 59826b51a8b06f0d84487ceffdc87f48746d0278

Uploaded At: October 31, 2025

Document Name
Math student assessment (CEII)
Document Type
survey_instrument
Document Description
File
Math student assessment (CEII)

MD5: 2cd460cb03d572d60b54d04904b54698

SHA1: 06502811581ecbe7269ab06112650133e5f74c2e

Uploaded At: October 31, 2025

Document Name
Math student assessment (CMII) (English translation)
Document Type
survey_instrument
Document Description
File
Math student assessment (CMII) (English translation)

MD5: a53e972104c51fda180fe1eaa2424b4e

SHA1: ab62288b5a66be5b670726acff712b7916235cfb

Uploaded At: October 31, 2025

Document Name
Math student assessment (CMII)
Document Type
survey_instrument
Document Description
File
Math student assessment (CMII)

MD5: 47611eaf50829463b3364272c4db06fd

SHA1: 88ca96a4e51c361ac1bd5fcc35185561a23951de

Uploaded At: October 31, 2025

IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Oregon State University Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2021-09-30
IRB Approval Number
IRB-2021-1209
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials