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Absence of Altruism? Female Disadvantage in Private School Enrolment in India

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  • Maitra, Pushkar

    (Monash University)

  • Pal, Sarmistha

    (University of Surrey)

  • Sharma, Anurag

    (Monash University)

Abstract

Using two nationally representative datasets from household surveys conducted in India in 2005 and 2012, the present paper examines the causal effect of gender in private school choice. We argue that the gender of the child is potentially endogenous in India because parents continue to have children until they have a son. To redress this potential endogeneity, we exploit the variation in private school choice among 7-18 year olds born to the same parents within the same household in an attempt to minimize both child-invariant and child-varying household-level omitted variable bias. We then explore the nature of female (dis)advantage across different types of households, communities and years with a view to assess the role of parental preferences in this respect and also its change. Significant female disadvantage exists in both survey years, though the size of this disadvantage varies across sub-samples and years. Female disadvantage is significantly higher among younger (relative to eldest) girls and also in northern and northwestern (relative to western) regions, but it is lower among girls from poor (relative to rich) households, Christian (relative to Hindu high caste) households, and those with more educated mothers. We infer that the observed within-household variations in female disadvantage across sub-samples reflect variations in non-altruistic parental preferences linked to deeply held cultural norms (for example, sons acting as old-age security and the exogamy of girls), access to schools and other public goods, thus posing considerable challenges to securing 'education for all.'

Suggested Citation

  • Maitra, Pushkar & Pal, Sarmistha & Sharma, Anurag, 2016. "Absence of Altruism? Female Disadvantage in Private School Enrolment in India," IZA Discussion Papers 9808, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9808
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    Cited by:

    1. Sahoo, Soham & Klasen, Stephan, 2018. "Gender Segregation in Education and Its Implications for Labour Market Outcomes: Evidence from India," IZA Discussion Papers 11660, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Karan Singhal & Upasak Das, 2019. "Revisiting the Role of Private Schooling on Children Learning Outcomes: Evidence from Rural India," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 20(2), pages 274-302, September.
    3. Fredrick M. Wamalwa & Justine Burns, 2017. "Gender and birth order effects on intra-household schooling choices and education attainments in Kenya," Working Papers 708, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    4. Chayanika Mitra & Indrani Sengupta & Pradeep Kumar Choudhury, 2022. "An analysis of school shifting patterns in India: what do recent data tell us?," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 24(2), pages 295-318, December.
    5. Valentina Rotondi & Francesco Billari, 2017. "Mobile Money and School Participation: Evidence from Low Income Countries," Working Papers 109, "Carlo F. Dondena" Centre for Research on Social Dynamics (DONDENA), Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi.
    6. Madhulika Khanna & Milan Thomas, 2024. "Gendered time poverty in three developing countries: An intra‐household analysis of children's time use," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(1), pages 316-342, January.
    7. Wamalwa, Fredrick M. & Burns, Justine, 2018. "Private schools and student learning achievements in Kenya," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 114-124.
    8. Chandan Jain, 2019. "Analysing Changes in Gender Difference in Learning in Rural India over Time," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 17(4), pages 913-935, December.
    9. Kalliyil, Muneer & Sahoo, Soham, 2024. "Does Restricting Access to Credit Affect Learning Outcomes? Evidence from a Regulatory Shock to Microfinance in India," IZA Discussion Papers 17404, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    parental altruism; female disadvantage; private school enrolment; household fixed-effects model; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General

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