Inaccurate information and biased beliefs about myopia and glasses-wearing can lead to low take-up of eyeglasses among myopic students. This paper provides experimental evidence on behavioral barriers affecting students' belief updating and stated preferences regarding glasses-wearing. We conducted a lab-in-the-field experiment with 8262 middle school students in a remote, underdeveloped county in China to test four targeted information nudges. Among myopic students without glasses, information on glasses prices and the short-term academic benefits of wearing glasses was most effective. The nudges worked by updating beliefs or increasing the salience of myopia and glasses-wearing, with substantial heterogeneity by myopia duration, academic performance, and peer groups. Cost–benefit analysis shows that targeted nudges remain cost-effective even under conservative take-up assumptions. Our results provide evidence of the importance of precise, personalized information nudges in improving students' educational input and academic achievement.

The experiences of student life can have lasting impacts on an individual's future outcomes. We take the policy of the Rural Primary School Consolidation Program (RPSCP) in 2001 as a quasi-natural experiment, and comprehensively examine the long-term impact of this policy on students' migration decisions in the future. We find that the RPSCP policy has a persisting negative impact on rural students' future migration, with a more pronounced effect among girls and younger students.