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Inequality in Incomes and Access to Education. A Cross-Country Analysis (1960-90)

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  • Daniele Checchi

    (University of Milan-Bicocca)

Abstract

In the current debate on the relationship between inequality in income distribution and growth one of the possible link works through the access to education. After reviewing this debate, a formal model show how the imperfection of financial markets makes educational choices dependent on the distribution of family incomes. This leads to two testable predictions in the analysis of aggregate data on school enrolments: a negative (linear) dependence on Gini concentration index on incomes distribution; and a positive dependence on public resources invested in education and/or on skill premium in the labour market. This predictions are then tested on a (unbalanced) panel of 102 countries for the period 1960-90. The main findings of this analysis are that, once we control for the degree of development with the (log of) per capita output, financial constraints seem mainly relevant in limiting the access to secondary education. However, when considering gender differences, there is evidence that female participation to education is more strongly conditioned by family wealth, starting from primary education. On the contrary there is no clear evidence of a relevant impact of invested resources, but at the tertiary level.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniele Checchi, 1999. "Inequality in Incomes and Access to Education. A Cross-Country Analysis (1960-90)," Working Papers 21, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised May 1999.
    • Handle: RePEc:mib:wpaper:21
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    Cited by:

    1. Daniele Checchi, 2001. "Education, Inequality and Income Inequality," STICERD - Distributional Analysis Research Programme Papers 52, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE.

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