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Education and Household Welfare

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  • Marcel Fafchamps
  • Forhad Shilpi

Abstract

Using census data from Nepal we examine how the partial derivatives of predicted household welfare vary with parental education. We focus on fertility, child survival, schooling, and child labor. Female education is not as strongly associated with beneficial outcomes as is often assumed. Male education often matters more, and part of the association between female education and welfare is driven by marriage market matching with more educated men. Controlling for the average education of parental cohorts does not change this finding. But when we use educational rank to proxy for unobserved ability and family background, the positive association between female education and beneficial outcomes becomes weaker or is reversed. For women, the association between educational rank and outcomes is strong: women who obtain more schooling than their peers in school have fewer children and educate them better. In contrast, for men the statistical association between education and household welfare remains strong, even after we control for educational rank within their birth cohort.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcel Fafchamps & Forhad Shilpi, 2014. "Education and Household Welfare," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(1), pages 73-115.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:ecdecc:doi:10.1086/677805
    DOI: 10.1086/677805
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    Cited by:

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    2. Alderman, Harold & Headey, Derek D., 2017. "How Important is Parental Education for Child Nutrition?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 448-464.
    3. Jorge M. Agüero & Maithili Ramachandran, 2020. "The Intergenerational Transmission of Schooling among the Education-Rationed," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 55(2), pages 504-538.
    4. Tang, Can & Zhao, Liqiu & Zhao, Zhong, 2018. "Child labor in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 149-166.
    5. Dr Mohammad Rafiqul Islam & Dr Nicholas Sim, 2021. "Education and Food Consumption Patterns: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Indonesia," Papers 2109.08124, arXiv.org.
    6. Muhammad Rizwan Kamran & Zheng Zhao, 2016. "Millennium & Financial Development Goals: Economic Indicators Perspective Of South Asian Countries," International Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Dr. Mohammad Hamad Al-khresheh, vol. 2(4), pages 133-151.

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    JEL classification:

    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development

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