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Children left behind in China : the role of school fees

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  • Dang,Hai-Anh H.
  • Huang,Yang
  • Selod,Harris
  • Dang,Hai-Anh H.
  • Huang,Yang
  • Selod,Harris

Abstract

The barriers faced by Chinese rural-urban migrants to access social services, particularly education, in host cities could help explain why the majority of migrants choose to leave their children behind. This paper proposes a theoretical framework that allows for an explicit discussion of the link between school fees and the decision of migrant parents to bring their children to the city. The analysis instruments the endogenous school fees with unexpected shocks to the city's public education spending, and empirically tests the theoretical predictions. The findings suggest that higher fees deter migrant workers from bringing their children, especially their daughters; reduce the number of children they bring; and increase educational remittances to rural areas for the children left behind. Increases in school fees most affect vulnerable migrant workers, and are likely to have stronger impacts during an economic crisis. These findings hold for different model specifications and robustness checks.

Suggested Citation

  • Dang,Hai-Anh H. & Huang,Yang & Selod,Harris & Dang,Hai-Anh H. & Huang,Yang & Selod,Harris, 2016. "Children left behind in China : the role of school fees," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7881, The World Bank.
  • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7881
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    Cited by:

    1. Selod, Harris & Shilpi, Forhad, 2021. "Rural-urban migration in developing countries: Lessons from the literature," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    2. Dang Hai-Anh H. & Huang Yang & Selod Harris, 2020. "Children Left Behind in China: The Role of School Fees," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-29, January.
    3. Yang, Guanyi & Bansak, Cynthia, 2020. "Does wealth matter? An assessment of China's rural-urban migration on the education of left-behind children," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    4. Zhao, Yu & Du, Hui & Li, Rui & Zhou, Guangsu, 2024. "The long-term influence of education resources allocation on the migration: Evidence from the China’s rural school consolidation policy," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economics of Education; Education Finance; Educational Sciences; Employment and Unemployment; Public Sector Economics; Public Financial Management; Public Finance Decentralization and Poverty Reduction; Access of Poor to Social Services; Disability; Economic Assistance; Services&Transfers to Poor;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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