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Child Work and Schooling in Rural North India What Does Time Use Data Say About Tradeoffs and Drivers of Human Capital Investment?

Author

Listed:
  • Sudha Narayanan

    (Associate Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR),)

  • Sowmya Dhanaraj

    (Lecturer, Madras School of EconomicsAuthor-Email: sowmya@mse.ac.in)

Abstract

This study examines time use data for 1244 children in the age-group 6- 12 years in 274 villages in eight states in rural north India to understand the tradeoffs between time spent in school, time spent at work, time spent on home study and leisure. Using a Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SURE) Model, we find that only a few variables influence allocation of time to different activities across the board. Overall, there seems to be no tradeoff between time spent at school and at work, whereas leisure time and home study appear to be compromised for the sake of work.

Suggested Citation

  • Sudha Narayanan & Sowmya Dhanaraj, 2017. "Child Work and Schooling in Rural North India What Does Time Use Data Say About Tradeoffs and Drivers of Human Capital Investment?," Working Papers 2017-157, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.
    • Handle: RePEc:mad:wpaper:2017-157
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Human capital investment; time use; primary schooling; India; child labour; seemingly unrelated regression;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • D19 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Other

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    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

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