Mother or Motherland: Can a Government Have an Impact on Educational Attainment of the Population? Preliminary Evidence from India

23 Pages Posted: 28 Jul 2010

See all articles by Sumon K. Bhaumik

Sumon K. Bhaumik

Aston University - Aston Business School; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Stephen M. Ross School of Business, William Davidson Institute

Manisha Chakrabarty

Indian Institute of Management Calcutta

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: May 1, 2010

Abstract

In this paper, using data from the 61st round of the (Indian) National Sample Survey, we examine the relative impacts of personal-household and state-level characteristics (including government policy) on the likelihood of transition from one educational level to the next. Our analysis suggests that the most important factors driving these transition likelihoods are personal and household characteristics like gender and education of household heads. However, state-level characteristics and government policies have a significant impact on these transition likelihoods as well, especially for transitions from the lowest levels of education to somewhat higher levels. The odds of making the transition to higher education, especially tertiary education, are systematically lower for women than for men, for individuals in rural areas than those in urban areas, and for Muslims than for Hindus. An important conclusion of our analysis is that there is significant scope for government policy to address educational gaps between various demographic and other groups in the country.

Keywords: educational attainment, likelihood of transition, government policy

JEL Classification: I21, I28

Suggested Citation

Bhaumik, Sumon K. and Bhaumik, Sumon K. and Chakrabarty, Manisha, Mother or Motherland: Can a Government Have an Impact on Educational Attainment of the Population? Preliminary Evidence from India (May 1, 2010). William Davidson Institute Working Paper No. 987, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1649678 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1649678

Sumon K. Bhaumik (Contact Author)

Aston University - Aston Business School ( email )

Aston Triangle
Birmingham, West Midlands B47ET
United Kingdom

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) ( email )

Schaumburg-Lippe-Str. 7 / 9
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Stephen M. Ross School of Business, William Davidson Institute

724 E. University Ave.
Wyly Hall
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1234
United States

Manisha Chakrabarty

Indian Institute of Management Calcutta ( email )

Joka
D.H Road
Kolkata, West Bengal 700104
India

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