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Schooling and Parental Death

Author

Listed:
  • Paul Gertler

    (Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley & NBER)

  • David I. Levine

    (Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley)

  • Minnie Ames

    (Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley)

Abstract

Loss of a parent is one of the most traumatic events a child can face. If loss of a parent reduces investments in children, it can also have long-lasting implications. This study uses parametric and semi-nonparametric matching techniques to estimate how one human capital investment, school enrollment, is affected by a parent's recent death. We analyze data from 600,000 households from Indonesia's National Socioeconomic Survey (SUSENAS) during 1994-96. We find a parent's recent death has a large effect on a child's enrollment. We also use this shock to test several theories of intra-household allocation and find little differential treatment based on the gender of the child or the deceased parent.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Gertler & David I. Levine & Minnie Ames, 2003. "Schooling and Parental Death," HEW 0303001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwphe:0303001
    Note: 38 pages, Acrobat .pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis

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