Rural schools are usually behind in terms of learning, and this could be partly related to geographical isolation. We explore this hypothesis, assessing the causal effect of the distance between schools, towns, and State capitals on elementary school test scores. We use granular administrative records from Colombia and estimate spatial regression discontinuity models. Results indicate that the distance to both towns and State capitals negatively affect students test scores. The differences in educational inputs, such as teachers education attainment and contract stability, partly explain these gaps. A program providing monetary incentives to teachers in difficult access areas fails to attenuate the isolation effect.

中文翻译：

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地理隔离与学习：来自哥伦比亚农村学校的证据

农村学校的学习成绩通常落后，这可能与地理隔离有关。我们探讨了这一假设，评估了学校、城镇和州首府之间的距离对小学考试成绩的因果影响。我们使用哥伦比亚的精细行政记录并估计空间回归不连续性模型。结果表明，距城镇和州首府的距离会对学生的考试成绩产生负面影响。教师教育程度和合同稳定性等教育投入的差异在一定程度上解释了这些差距。向交通困难地区的教师提供金钱激励的计划未能减弱隔离效应。