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The urban–rural education gap: do cities indeed make us smarter?
[Educational investment responses to economic opportunity: evidence from Indian road construction]

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  • Raoul van Maarseveen

Abstract

Despite the large urban–rural education gap observed in most countries, little attention has been paid to whether cities actually enjoy a comparative advantage in the production of human capital. Using Dutch administrative data, this paper finds that children growing in urban regions consistently attain higher levels of human capital compared with children in rural regions, conditional on observed cognitive ability and various family characteristics. The elasticity of university attendance with respect to population density is 0.07, which is robust across a variety of specifications. Hence, the paper offers a different explanation to explain the recent success of cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Raoul van Maarseveen, 2021. "The urban–rural education gap: do cities indeed make us smarter? [Educational investment responses to economic opportunity: evidence from Indian road construction]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 21(5), pages 683-714.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jecgeo:v:21:y:2021:i:5:p:683-714.
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    3. van Oosterhout, Kars & Bakens, Jessie & Cörvers, Frank, 2024. "Can student aid policy alter spatial inequality in university enrolment?," Research Memorandum 002, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    urban–rural education gap; agglomeration economies; human capital;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General

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