Evaluating the effects of governmental regulations on South Korean private cram schools

Using two nationally representative datasets, this paper examines how the imposition of a curfew on private cram schools affects the consumption of private tutoring services as well as the time use patterns of Korean high school students. To identify the impact of the curfew, this study capitalizes on inter-city/province variation in private cram school regulatory ordinances and estimates a difference-in-differences estimator between the years of 2009 and 2012. The findings indicate that the curfew was ineffective in reducing the level of household expenditure or the total number of hours spent on private tutoring. However, imposition of the curfew was found to be associated with increases in time spent on sleeping as well as in internet usage for non-academic purposes. Interestingly, changes in time use patterns were not found among students in the highest socio-economic status group indicating that the curfew policy may have certain unintended consequences. Policy implications are discussed.