HOUSEHOLDS
This portfolio analyzes how learning and educational attainment are affected by things that happen outside of school. A large fraction of learning happens at home and having the resources to support and nurture this is critical. Our studies examine the importance of parental education, as well as the expectations on children of working inside the home. Further, it is inside the home that schooling decisions are made, and understanding what impacts these choices is crucial to understanding the demand for education. This research is of particular importance for girls and women, as schooling rates are still lower for girls and it is mothers who spend the most time with their young children.
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Parental Perceptions and Schooling
Image: U.S. Agency for International Development
This study investigates the accuracy and predictive power of parental perceptions. We examine how these perceptions change over time, and if parents are willing to update their perceptions when new information is provided.
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Do parents have accurate perceptions of their child’s ability from a young age?
Are these perceptions predictive of later life outcomes?
Are parents willing to update their perceptions upon receiving new information?
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Parental perceptions are highly correlated with their child’s test scores, even at a young age.
These perceptions are very predictive of later life outcomes, specifically years of completed schooling and probability of attending college.
Household Demand and Private Schools
Image: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Private schools are growing in popularity in many low- and middle-income countries around the world, and governments are responding with a large range of policies. To design and implement efficient policy, the first step is understanding household demand for private schools.
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What are the main determinants of school choice in this setting?
Do families value having the choice of a private school?
Is the price of tuition a large barrier to entry for families who want to send their children to a private school?
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Distance between home and school is a key input in the school choice decision.
Families value having the choice of a private school, reaching 2% to 7% of annual per capita expenditure for those choosing private schools.
Families are not very sensitive to the price of private schools.
The impact of vouchers is smaller than speculated.
A Model for Horizontal Competition
Image: Evidence for Policy Design
A growing literature suggests that the match between a student’s instructional needs and a school’s instructional level is an important determinant of learning. We study the magnitude of these effects and how they respond to changes in the market structure.
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Is the match between a school and a student an important determinant of learning?
Do competitive forces lead private schools to choose instructional levels that tend to favor wealthier students at the expense of poorer students, reducing overall learning?
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Match is an important determinant of learning.
Moving a student from the worst to best possible match school would increase their test scores by 0.37 SD (equivalent to approximately 1 additional year of schooling).
On average, private schools choose match-specific qualities that favor wealthier students because these students are substantially more responsive to quality.
Increased competition due to private school entry exacerbates the incentive to cater to wealthier students.
Girls’ Education and Younger Sibling Human Capital
Image: shutterstock.com
Many studies document the beneficial impact of maternal schooling for children but surprisingly little is known about the effects of an older sister’s schooling. This study investigates the effects of the oldest sister’s schooling on younger brothers’ educational outcomes in rural Pakistan
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What are the determinants of an oldest daughter’s schooling choices?
What is the impact of an older sister’s education on her younger siblings?
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Reducing distance to the girls’ school sharply increases the oldest sister’s schooling.
This in turn raises her younger brothers’ literacy and numeracy skills and years of schooling completed.
Increasing oldest sister’s schooling has no impact on older brothers’ educational outcomes, indicating that younger brothers are not benefitting merely because their parents are investing more in all of their children.
Girls' Schooling Choices and Home Production
Image: Evidence for Policy Design
Despite the benefits of education, girls’ school enrollment in rural areas of low-income countries tends to be significantly below boys’ enrollment. This is likely due to the increasing number of hours girls are expected to work in the household as they grow older.
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What are the determinants of girls' schooling choices in a rural area of a developing country?
In particular, how does the value of Pakistani girls' time if used in home production affect their educational participation?
Which policies are more effective to fi ght the considerably low girls' enrollment rates?
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This paper develops and estimates a dynamic structural model that allows for the interrelations between girls' schooling and mothers' labor market participation, incorporating home production.
The model shows that monetary incentives are a good mechanism to increase girls’ enrollment but are not the most effective.
School building programs may have a higher impact on enrollment at a similar cost.
Mothers’ Education and Child Outcomes
Image: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Parents have a huge influence over their children’s education and schooling decisions. This study explores whether even very low levels of education held by mothers helps improve learning for their children relative to children of mothers with no education.
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Does maternal education have an impact on children’s educational outcomes even at the very low levels found in many developing countries?
What are the channels through which maternal education may influence child outcomes?
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Children whose mothers have some education have higher test scores than children whose mothers do not.
Even a small amount of education could have a large effect on cognitive and non-cognitive child outcomes.
Children of mothers with some education spend more time per day on educational activities at home; and mothers with some education spend more time helping children with schoolwork.