IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/idb/wpaper/3162.html

Working and Studying in Rural Latin America: Critical Decisions of Adolescence

Author

Listed:
  • Lorena Alcazar
  • Silvio Rendon
  • Erik Wachtenheim

Abstract

This paper evaluates the determinants of school attendance and work of rural adolescents between 10 and 18 years old in 1997-1998 for a sample of Latin American countries. Rural adolescents are quite disadvantaged relative to their urban counterparts. The share of rural adolescents studying while concurrently working part-time is significantly higher, household income is significantly lower, “supply-side” issues are an important factor in rural non-attendance, and to the extent that the educational attainment of the parents creates inter-generational persistence we find that rural youth are starting from a disadvantaged position. We present some statistical analysis that highlights these problems and also perform bivariate binary estimation to identify the determinants of these decisions. We find that for most countries critical determinants for making these choices are household income and parental education as well as household composition. Further, we find that there is evidence of a significant “trade-off” between working and studying. Finally, inter-generational factors allow for both a virtuous cycle and a vicious cycle.

Suggested Citation

  • Lorena Alcazar & Silvio Rendon & Erik Wachtenheim, 2002. "Working and Studying in Rural Latin America: Critical Decisions of Adolescence," Research Department Publications 3162, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    • Handle: RePEc:idb:wpaper:3162
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.iadb.org/research/pub_hits.cfm?pub_id=R-469&pub_file_name=pubR-469.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Willis, Robert J & Rosen, Sherwin, 1979. "Education and Self-Selection," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(5), pages 7-36, October.
    2. Lawrence F. Katz & Kevin M. Murphy, 1992. "Changes in Relative Wages, 1963–1987: Supply and Demand Factors," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(1), pages 35-78.
    3. Canagarajah, Sudharshan & Coulombe, Harold, 1997. "Child labor and schooling in Ghana," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1844, The World Bank.
    4. David Abler & Jose S. Rodriguez & Héctor Robles, 1998. "The allocation of children's time in Mexico and Peru," Informes / Reports inf199801, Departamento de Economía - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.
    5. Jean-Marie Baland & James A. Robinson, 2000. "Is Child Labor Inefficient?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(4), pages 663-679, August.
    6. Hideo Akabayashi & George Psacharopoulos, 1999. "The trade-off between child labour and human capital formation: A Tanzanian case study," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(5), pages 120-140.
    7. Flug, Karnit & Spilimbergo, Antonio & Wachtenheim, Erik, 1998. "Investment in education: do economic volatility and credit constraints matter?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 465-481, April.
    8. Rosenzweig, Mark R & Evenson, Robert E, 1977. "Fertility, Schooling, and the Economic Contribution of Children in Rural India: An Econometric Analysis," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 45(5), pages 1065-1079, July.
    9. Charles Diamond & Tammy Fayed, 1998. "Evidence on substitutability of adult and child labour," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(3), pages 62-70.
    10. Duryea, Suzanne & Székely, Miguel, 1998. "Labor Markets in Latin America: A Supply-Side Story," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 1289, Inter-American Development Bank.
    11. Petrongolo, Barbara & San Segundo, María Jesús, 1998. "Staying-on at school at sixteen: the impact of labor market conditions in Spain," UC3M Working papers. Economics 6076, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía.
    12. Grootaert, Christiaan, 1998. "Child labor in Cote d'Ivoire: incidence and determinants," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1905, The World Bank.
    13. Suzanne Duryea & Jere R. Behrman & Miguel Székely, 1999. "Schooling Investments and Aggregate Conditions: A Household Survey-Based Approach for Latin America and the Caribbean," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 6457, Inter-American Development Bank.
    14. James J. Heckman & V. Joseph Hotz, 1986. "An Investigation of the Labor Market Earnings of Panamanian Males Evaluating the Sources of Inequality," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 21(4), pages 507-542.
    15. Swaminathan, Madhura, 1998. "Economic growth and the persistence of child labor: Evidence from an Indian city," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(8), pages 1513-1528, August.
    16. Heckman, James J, 1976. "A Life-Cycle Model of Earnings, Learning, and Consumption," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 84(4), pages 11-44, August.
    17. Lopez-Valcarcel, Beatriz Gonzalez & Quintana, Delia Davila, 1998. "Economic and Cultural Impediments to University Education in Spain," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 93-103, February.
    18. Ravallion, Martin & Wodon, Quentin, 2000. "Does Child Labour Displace Schooling? Evidence on Behavioural Responses to an Enrollment Subsidy," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(462), pages 158-175, March.
    19. Yoram Ben-Porath, 1967. "The Production of Human Capital and the Life Cycle of Earnings," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 75(4), pages 352-352.
    20. Keane, Michael P & Wolpin, Kenneth I, 1997. "The Career Decisions of Young Men," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(3), pages 473-522, June.
    21. Bedi, Arjun S & Marshall, Jeffrey H, 1999. "School Attendance and Student Achievement: Evidence from Rural Honduras," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(3), pages 657-682, April.
    22. repec:bla:econom:v:56:y:1989:i:221:p:25-39 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Stern, David & Paik, IL-Woo & Catterali, James S. & Nakata, Yoshi-Fumi, 1989. "Labor market experience of teenagers with and without high school diplomas," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 233-246, June.
    24. Behrman, Jere R. & Birdsall, Nancy & Székely, Miguel, 1998. "Intergenerational Schooling Mobility and Macro Conditions and Schooling Policies in Latin America," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 6084, Inter-American Development Bank.
    25. Suzanne Duryea & Miguel Székely, 1998. "Labor Markets in Latin America: A Supply-Side Story," Research Department Publications 4120, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    26. Alba-Ramirez, Alfonso & San Segundo, Maria Jesus, 1995. "The returns to education in Spain," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 155-166, June.
    27. David A. Kodde & Jozef M. M. Ritzen, 1988. "Direct and Indirect Effects of Parental Education Level on the Demand for Higher Education," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 23(3), pages 356-371.
    28. Jacoby, Hanan G, 1994. "Borrowing Constraints and Progress through School: Evidence from Peru," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(1), pages 151-160, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jorge A. Paz & Carolina Piselli, 2010. "Trabajo y educación de niñas, niños y adolescentes en América Latina y el Caribe," Working Papers 6, Instituto de Estudios Laborales y del Desarrollo Económico (IELDE) - Universidad Nacional de Salta - Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Jurídicas y Sociales.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Drusilla K. Brown & Alan V. Deardorff & Robert M. Stern, 2009. "The Effects of Multinational Production on Wages and Working Conditions in Developing Countries," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Globalization And International Trade Policies, chapter 17, pages 623-687, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    2. Petrongolo, Barbara & San Segundo, Maria J., 2002. "Staying-on at school at 16: the impact of labor market conditions in Spain," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 353-365, August.
    3. Jinnat Ara & Dipanwita Sarkar & Jayanta Sarkar, 2021. "Like mother like daughter? Occupational mobility among children under asset transfer program in Bangladesh," QuBE Working Papers 061, QUT Business School.
    4. Jean-Pierre Lachaud, 2008. "Le travail des enfants et la pauvreté en Afrique : un réexamen appliqué au Burkina Faso," Economie & Prévision, La Documentation Française, vol. 0(5), pages 47-65.
    5. Edmonds, Eric V., 2008. "Child Labor," Handbook of Development Economics, in: T. Paul Schultz & John A. Strauss (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 57, pages 3607-3709, Elsevier.
    6. Schady, Norbert R., 2002. "The (positive) effect of macroeconomic crises on the schoolingand employment decisions of children in a middle-income country," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2762, The World Bank.
    7. Jackline Wahba, 2001. "Child Labor and Poverty Transmission: No Room For Dreams," Working Papers 0108, Economic Research Forum, revised 03 2001.
    8. Rajeev Dehejia & Roberta Gatti, 2002. "Child Labor: The Role of Income Variability and Access to Credit Across Countries," NBER Working Papers 9018, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Moshe Buchinsky & Phillip Leslie, 2010. "Educational Attainment and the Changing U.S. Wage Structure: Dynamic Implications on Young Individuals' Choices," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(3), pages 541-594, July.
    10. Angel de la Fuente & Antonio Ciccone, 2003. "Human capital in a global and knowledge-based economy," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 562.03, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    11. Geppert, Christian, 2015. "On the Distributional Implications of Demographic Change," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113070, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    12. Sudha Narayanan & Sowmya Dhanraj, 2013. "Child Work and Schooling in Rural North India: What do Time Use Data Say about Tradeoffs and Drivers of Human Capital Investment?," Working Papers id:5597, eSocialSciences.
    13. Burrone, Sara & Giannelli, Gianna Claudia, 2019. "Does Child Labor Lead to Vulnerable Employment in Adulthood? Evidence for Tanzania," IZA Discussion Papers 12162, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Keane, Michael P. & Todd, Petra E. & Wolpin, Kenneth I., 2011. "The Structural Estimation of Behavioral Models: Discrete Choice Dynamic Programming Methods and Applications," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 4, pages 331-461, Elsevier.
    15. Asep Suryahadi & Sudarno Sumarto & Agus Priyambada, "undated". "What Happened to Child Labor in Indonesia during the Economic Crisis: The Trade-off between School and Work," Working Papers 360, Communications Section.
    16. Nadeem Ilahi & Peter F. Orazem & Guilherme Sedlacek, 2009. "How Does Working as a Child Affect Wages, Income, and Poverty as an Adult?," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Peter F. Orazem & Guilherme Sedlacek & Zafiris Tzannatos (ed.), Child Labor and Education in Latin America, chapter 5, pages 87-101, Palgrave Macmillan.
    17. Gaurav Datt & Leah Uhe, 2014. "A little help may be no help at all: child labor and scholarships in Nepal," Monash Economics Working Papers 50-14, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    18. Wahba, J., 2006. "The influence of market wages and parental history on child labour and schooling in Egypt," Discussion Paper Series In Economics And Econometrics 603, Economics Division, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton.
    19. Eric V. Edmonds, 2005. "Does Child Labor Decline with Improving Economic Status?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(1).
    20. Gianluca Violante & Giovanni Gallipoli & Costas Meghir, 2005. "Education Decisions, Equilibrium Policies and Wages Dispersion," 2005 Meeting Papers 522, Society for Economic Dynamics.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:idb:wpaper:3162. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Felipe Herrera Library (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iadbbus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.