In the current debate on the relationship between inequality in income distribution and growth one of the possible link works through the access to education. After reviewing this debate, a formal model shows how the imperfection of financial markets makes educational choices dependent on the distribution of family incomes. This leads to two testable predictions in the analysis of aggregate data on school enrolments: a negative (linear) relation with the Gini coefficient on incomes distribution; and a positive dependence on public resources invested in education and/or on skill premium in the labour market. These predictions are then tested on a (unbalanced) panel of 102 countries for the period 1960-90. The main findings of this analysis are that, once we control for the degree of development with the (log of) per capita output, financial constraints seem mainly relevant in limiting the access to secondary education. However, when considering gender differences, there is evidence that female participation in education is more strongly conditioned by family wealth, starting from primary education. On the contrary there is no clear evidence of a relevant impact of invested resources, but at the tertiary level
Download Info
To our knowledge, this item is not available for
download. To find whether it is available, there are three
options:
1. Check below under "Related research" whether another version of this item is available online.
2. Check on the provider's web page
whether it is in fact available.
3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be
available.
Publisher Info
Paper provided by World Institute for Development Economics Research in its series Research Paper with number
158.
Length: 43 pages Date of creation: 1999 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:fth:wodeec:158
Contact details of provider: Postal: United Nations University; World Institute for Development Economics Research, Katajanokanlaituri 6B, 00160 Helsinki Phone: +358-9-6159911 Fax: +358-9-61599333 Email: Web page: http://www.wider.unu.edu/ More information through EDIRC
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Thomas Krichel).
Find related papers by JEL classification: D30 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - General D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance