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Aspirations, Poverty, and Education. Evidence from India

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  • Pieter Serneels
  • Stefan Dercon

Abstract

This paper investigates whether aspirations matter for education, which offers a common route out of poverty. We find that mother aspirations are strongly related to the child’s grade achieved at age 18. The relation is nonlinear, suggesting there is a threshold, and depends on caste, household income and the village setting. The coefficients remain large and significant when applying control function estimation, using first born son as instrument. A similar strong relation is observed with learning outcomes, including local language, English and maths test results, and with attending school, but not with attending private education. These results are confirmed for outcomes at age 15. The findings provide direct evidence on the contribution of mother aspirations to children’s education outcomes and point to aspirations as a channel of intergenerational mobility. They suggest that education outcomes can be improved more rapidly by taking aspirations into account when targeting education programmes, and through interventions that shape aspirations.

Suggested Citation

  • Pieter Serneels & Stefan Dercon, 2021. "Aspirations, Poverty, and Education. Evidence from India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(1), pages 163-183, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:57:y:2021:i:1:p:163-183
    DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2020.1806242
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    1. Martin Paul Jr. Tabe‐Ojong & Thomas Heckelei & Sebastian Rasch, 2023. "Aspirations and investments in livestock: Evidence of aspiration failure in Kenya," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 54(5), pages 674-696, September.
    2. Martin Paul Jr. Tabe-Ojong & Thomas Heckelei & Kathy Baylis, 2021. "Aspiration Formation and Ecological Shocks in Rural Kenya," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(4), pages 833-860, August.
    3. Aregawi G Gebremariam & Elisabetta Lodigiani & Giacomo Pasini, 2024. "The Impact of Ethiopian Productive Safety Net Program on Children's Educational Aspirations and Attainments," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 33(3), pages 271-296.
    4. Malhi, Fareena Noor & Hassan, Hashibul & Su, Qinghe, 2025. "Time-saving appliances and educational pitfalls: Evidence from Pakistan," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    5. Wang, Jianda & Wang, Bo & Dong, Kangyin & Dong, Xiucheng, 2022. "How does the digital economy improve high-quality energy development? The case of China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    6. Alexis H. Villacis & Selina Bruns & Martin Paul Jr Tabe‐Ojong & David L. Ortega & Ashok K. Mishra, 2025. "Gender dynamics and aspirational disparities in agriculture," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 47(1), pages 176-198, March.
    7. Mequanint B. Melesse & Amos Nyangira Tirra & Yabibal M. Walle & Michael Hauser, 2023. "Understanding the Determinants of Aspirations in Rural Tanzania: Does Financial Literacy Matter?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(6), pages 1294-1321, December.
    8. Lechman, Ewa & Popowska, Magdalena, 2022. "Harnessing digital technologies for poverty reduction. Evidence for low-income and lower-middle income countries," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(6).
    9. Xuan Huo & Huawei Han & Qin Gao, 2023. "Does Welfare Participation Affect Adolescent Educational Aspiration? Evidence from Panel Data in China," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 16(3), pages 1171-1202, June.
    10. Yu, Shuang & Guo, Qiuyan & Liang, Yinhe, 2025. "The power of education: The intergenerational impact of children’s education on the poverty of Chinese older adults," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    11. Prashant Kumar Arya & Koyel Sur & Siddharth Dhote & Harsh Siral & Tanushree Kundu & Balwant Singh Mehta & Ravi Srivastava, 2025. "Integrating Multi-Source Satellite Imagery and Socio-Economic Household Data for Wealth-Based Poverty Assessment of India: A GIS and Machine Learning Based Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 179(2), pages 653-676, September.
    12. Porter, Catherine, 2024. "Reprioritising inclusion and equity to meet SDG4: Action is needed beyond the education sector – and must begin before school entry," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    13. World Bank, 2024. "Madagascar Poverty and Equity Assessment, February 2024," World Bank Publications - Reports 41087, The World Bank Group.
    14. Marcela Ibañez Diaz & Menusch Khadjavi & Christina Martini, "undated". "Community Aspirations and Cooperation: Prescriptive vs. Descriptive Role Models," GlobalFood Discussion Papers 309650, Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen, GlobalFood, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.
    15. Manhisse, Nelson & Ogawa, Keiichi, 2024. "Smallholder households and children’s schooling in primary education in Mozambique," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    16. Tabe-Ojong, Jr., Martin Paul & Godana, Guyo, 2022. "Are Agro-clusters Pro-Poor? Evidence from Ethiopia," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322432, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    17. Tabe-Ojong, Martin Paul Jr. & Nshakira-Rukundo, Emmanuel, 2021. "Religiosity and parental educational aspirations for children in Kenya," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    18. Libório, Matheus Pereira & Diniz, Alexandre Magno Alves & Pinto, Marcelo de Rezende & Laudares, Sandro & Bernardes, Patrícia, 2025. "Representing social exclusion in geographic space: interpretability or informational power?," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles

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