Impact of Information Provision on Investments in Human Capital. Review of Experimental Studies

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The classical approach of economics to education assumes that individuals regard education as an investment and have perfect information on the costs and benefits of their educational choices. This review investigates the burgeoning literature on information interventions in education and attempts to discover whether such interventions can be effective tools for education policies to increase the time spent in school and modify educational choices and preferences. The findings of 19 experimental studies were analysed. The results of this review show that some groups of students made educational choices using very inaccurate information and information interventions led them to update their beliefs. Despite existing informational constraints, raising students’ knowledge on the profitability of education had mixed results on educational behaviour. The most promising effects of information interventions were raising student learning efforts and changing student preferences.