Publication: Obstacles to School Progression in Rural Pakistan: An Analysis of Gender and Sibling Rivalry Using Field Survey Data
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Published
2009
ISSN
03043878
Date
2012-03-30
Author(s)
Sawada, Yasuyuki
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Abstract
This paper aims to identify the obstacles to school progression by using field surveys that were conducted in twenty-five Pakistani villages. The full-information maximum likelihood (FIML) estimation of the sequential schooling decision model reveals important dynamics of the gender difference in educational attainment, intrahousehold resource-allocation patterns, and transitory income and wealth effects. In the descriptive statistics as well as the econometric analyses, we find a high educational retention rate and observe that school progression rates between male and female students after secondary school are comparable. In particular, we find gender-specific and schooling-stage-specific birth-order effects on education. Our overall findings are consistent with the implications of optimal schooling behavior under binding credit constraints and the self-selection of education-friendly households. Finally, we find serious supply-side constraints which might arise from a village-level lack of demand for primary schools for girls.
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Publication Household Schooling Decisions in Rural Pakistan(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2001-02)Human capital investments in Pakistan are performing poorly; school enrollment is low, the high school dropout rate is high, and there is a definite gender gap in education. The authors conducted field surveys in 25 Pakistani villages and integrated their field observations, economic theory, and econometric analysis to investigate the sequential nature of education decisions--because current outcomes depend not only on current decisions but also on past decisions. Their full-information maximum likelihood estimate of the sequential schooling decision model reveals important dynamics affecting the gender gap in education, the effects of transitory income and wealth, and intrahousehold resource allocation patterns. 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To address this question, we draw upon data from the provincial school censuses 2003 and 2005. We estimate the net growth in female enrolments in grade 6-8 in stipend eligible schools. Impact evaluation analysis, including difference-and-difference (DD), triple differencing (DDD) and regression-discontinuity design (RDD), indicate a modest but statistically significant impact of the intervention. The preferred estimator derived from a combination of DDD and RDD empirical strategies suggests that the average programme impact between 2003 and 2005 was an increase of six female students per school in terms of absolute change and an increase of 9% in female enrolment in terms of relative change. A triangulation effort is also undertaken using two rounds of a nationally representative household survey before and after the intervention. Even though the surveys are not representative at the sub-provincial level, the results corroborate evidence of the impact using school census data.Publication The Implications of Changing Educational and Family Circumstances for Children's Grade Progression in Rural Pakistan : 1997-2004(2009)We assess factors affecting primary and middle school dropout in rural Punjab and NorthWest Frontier Province over 6 years (1997-2004). These data are unique in a developing-country setting in longitudinally tracking changes in both school and household environments. While grade retention has improved, girls' dropout rates remain fairly high. Results suggest the importance of both household and school factors. For girls, arrival in the family of an unwanted birth in the last 6 years and enrollment in a government (not private) primary school significantly increase the likelihood of dropout, whereas availability of post-primary schooling, having a mother who attended school, and living in a better-off household reduce the probability of dropout. For boys, school quality, measured by the percent of residential teachers in the primary school, and living in a more developed community significantly reduce the probability of dropping out; loss of household remittances significantly increases the likelihood of dropout.Publication Tenure Insecurity, Gender, Low-Cost Land Certification and Land Rental Market Participation in Ethiopia(2011)There is a renewed interest in whether land reforms can contribute to market development and poverty reduction in Africa. This paper assesses effects on the allocative efficiency of the land rental market of the low-cost approach to land registration and certification of restricted property rights that was implemented in Ethiopia in the late 1990s. Four rounds of a balanced household panel from 16 villages in northern Ethiopia are analysed, showing that land certification initially enhanced land rental market participation of (potential) tenant and landlord households, especially those that are headed by females.
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