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Returns to private and public education in Bangladesh and Pakistan: A comparative analysis

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Listed author(s):
  • Asadullah, M. Niaz

Abstract

This paper documents wage differentials between private and public school graduates in Bangladesh and Pakistan. While evidence in support of a wage advantage of private school graduates in Bangladesh is lacking, Pakistani private school graduates are found to earn more than their public school counterparts. This finding has important implications for the current debate over the effectiveness of private schools in South Asia. To the extent the wage premium arises owing to education in private schools, our result suggests relative superiority of private schools in Pakistan and are consistent with extant studies that have assessed private school quality using test scores of students. The difference in the performance of private schools in the two countries, however, remains a puzzle. This difference, we conjecture, may be partly explained by the between-country differences in public policy towards private schools and, therefore, the regulatory regime facing these schools.

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Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Journal of Asian Economics.

Volume (Year): 20 (2009)
Issue (Month): 1 (January)
Pages: 77-86

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Handle: RePEc:eee:asieco:v:20:y:2009:i:1:p:77-86
Contact details of provider: Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/asieco

Keywords: Private schools Wage returns to education Bangladesh Pakistan;

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  1. Kingdon, Geeta, 1996. "The Quality and Efficiency of Private and Public Education: A Case-Study of Urban India," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 58(1), pages 57-82, February.
  2. David Newhouse & Kathleen Beegle, 2006. "The Effect of School Type on Academic Achievement: Evidence from Indonesia," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 41(3).
  3. Shahrukh Rafi Khan & David Kiefer, 2007. "Educational Production Functions for Rural Pakistan: A Comparative Institutional Analysis," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(3), pages 327-342.
  4. Harold Alderman & Peter F. Orazem & Elizabeth M. Paterno, 2001. "School Quality, School Cost, and the Public/Private School Choices of Low-Income Households in Pakistan," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 36(2), pages 304-326.
  5. Lassibille, Gerard & Tan, Jee-Peng, 2003. "Student Learning in Public and Private Primary Schools in Madagascar," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 51(3), pages 699-717, April.
  6. Koenker,Roger, 2005. "Quantile Regression," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521845731, August.
  7. Bedi, Arjun S. & Garg, Ashish, 2000. "The effectiveness of private versus public schools: the case of Indonesia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 463-494, April.
  8. Mohammad Niaz Asadullah, 2006. "Returns to Education in Bangladesh," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(4), pages 453-468.
  9. Monazza Aslam, 2006. "The Quality of School Provision in Pakistan: Are Girls Worse Off?," Economics Series Working Papers GPRG-WPS-066, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
  10. Alderman, Harold, et al, 1996. "The Returns to Endogenous Human Capital in Pakistan's Rural Wage Labour Market," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 58(1), pages 29-55, February.
  11. Niaz Asadullah, Mohammad & Chaudhury, Nazmul & Dar, Amit, 2007. "Student achievement conditioned upon school selection: Religious and secular secondary school quality in Bangladesh," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 648-659, December.
  12. Kim, Jooseop & Alderman, Harold & Orazem, Peter F, 1999. "Can Private School Subsidies Increase Enrollment for the Poor? The Quetta Urban Fellowship Program," World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 13(3), pages 443-465, September.
  13. Paul Glewwe, 2002. "Schools and Skills in Developing Countries: Education Policies and Socioeconomic Outcomes," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 436-482, June.
  14. M. Niaz Asadullah, 2005. "The effect of class size on student achievement: evidence from Bangladesh," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 217-221.
  15. Das, Jishnu & Pandey, Priyanka & Zajonc, Tristan, 2006. "Learning levels and gaps in Pakistan," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4067, The World Bank.
  16. Kim, Jooseop & Alderman, Harold & Orazem, Peter, 1999. "Can Private School Subsidies Increase Schooling for the Poor? The Quetta Urban Fellowship Program," Staff General Research Papers Archive 1709, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
  17. Gérard Lassibille & Jee-Peng Tan, 2001. "Are private schools more efficient than public schools ? Evidence from Tanzania," Post-Print halshs-01266314, HAL.
  18. Gérard Lassibille & Jee-Peng Tan, 2003. "Student Learning in Public and Private Primary Schools in Madagascar," Post-Print halshs-00004972, HAL.
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Cited by:

  1. M. Niaz Asadullah & Rupa Chakrabarti & Nazmul Chaudhury, 2015. "What Determines Religious School Choice? Theory And Evidence From Rural Bangladesh," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(2), pages 186-207, 04.
  2. Binelli, Chiara & Rubio-Codina, Marta, 2013. "The Returns to Private Education: Evidence from Mexico," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 198-215.
  3. Quynh T. Nguyen & Dhushyanth Raju, 2015. "Private School Participation in Pakistan," Lahore Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, The Lahore School of Economics, vol. 20(1), pages 1-46, Jan-June.
  4. Asadullah, Mohammad Niaz & Chaudhury, Nazmul, 2010. "Religious Schools, Social Values, and Economic Attitudes: Evidence from Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 205-217, February.
  5. Lamichhane, Kamal & Watanabe, Takayuki, 2015. "The Effect of Disability and Gender on Returns to the Investment in Education: A Case from Metro Manilla of the Philippines," Working Papers 103, JICA Research Institute.
  6. Yamamura, Eiji, 2010. "Public spending on education: Its impact on students skipping classes and completing school," MPRA Paper 23657, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  7. Asadullah, M Niaz & Chaudhury, Nazmul, 2016. "To madrasahs or not to madrasahs: The question and correlates of enrolment in Islamic schools in Bangladesh," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 55-69.
  8. repec:lje:journl:v:19:y:2015:i:1:p:1-46 is not listed on IDEAS
  9. M. Niaz Asadullah, 2016. "The Effect Of Islamic Secondary School Attendance On Academic Achievement," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 61(04), pages 1-24, September.
  10. Masooma Habib, 2013. "Education in Pakistan’s Punjab: Outcomes and Interventions," Lahore Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, The Lahore School of Economics, vol. 18(Special E), pages 21-48, September.
  11. Delavande, Adeline & Zafar, Basit, 2014. "University choice: the role of expected earnings, non-pecuniary outcomes and financial constraints," ISER Working Paper Series 2014-38, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
  12. Marine de Talancé, 2016. "Quality perceptions and school choice in rural Pakistan," Working Papers DT/2016/15, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
  13. Pauline Dixon, 2013. "International Aid and Private Schools for the Poor," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15122.
  14. Kolstad, Ivar & Wiig, Arne & Moazzem, Khondaker Golam, 2014. "Returns to education among entrepreneurs in Bangladesh," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 54-65.

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