Improving educational outcomes using commitments and unconditional incentives: Three empirical essays

The majority of existing educational programs dispense incentives on the condition that students achieve predetermined education targets. Behavioural economists in recent periods have stressed the importance of framing incentives and have begun evaluating the most effective ways to implement incentives and education-based targets. This thesis takes an innovative approach to explore the effects of unconditional incentives and commitment structures on the key educational indicators of Indigenous high school students' attendance rates and effort levels. In doing so, this thesis also addresses a key policy issue in looking at different ways to improve school attendance rates for Indigenous high school students