Income inequality in education, and children's schooling attainment in Brazil

Resumo

This paper analyzes the determinants of schooling attainment at the household level for 14-year-olds in urban regions of São Paulo and Northeast Brazil, using data from the 1982 PNAD. We find mean schooling of 4.75 years in São Paulo, and 3.25 years in the Northeast, both far short of the seven years of schooling that should have been completed by 14-years-olds. In attempting to explain the 1.5 year advantage in the schooling attainment of 14-year-olds in São Paulo, we find regional differences in the characteristics of parents that are consistent with the regional difference in child outcomes. Parents’ schooling and income are considerably higher in São Paulo, and inequality in parental schooling is higher in the Northeast. Regression estimates imply substantial positive effects of parental schooling and income on child schooling attainment. Our results suggest that only a small proportion of the gap in schooling attainment between São Paulo and the Northeast can be explained by differences in parental characteristics, however. Using our regression coefficients and mean characteristics in each region to predict schooling attainment off 14-year-olds, we are able to explain less than 20 percent of the 1.5 year schooling gap between the Northeast and São Paulo. This suggest that child schooling attainment will be relatively unresponsive to improvements in the socioeconomic status of household per se. The results suggest that direct increases in the quantity and quality of schooling supplied may be able to eliminate a large fraction of the schooling gap between regions, even in the absence of substantial changes in the socioeconomic status of parents.

Ficha do documento

Tipo

Estudo

Ano

2015

Instituição

Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada (Ipea)

Fonte

Repositório do Ipea

Idioma

Inglês

Acesso

Acesso aberto

Identificador

oai:repositorio.ipea.gov.br:11058/4850

Licença

Licença Comum

Abrangência

São Paulo; Nordeste; Brasil; 1982

Temas

Desenvolvimento RegionalEducação

Palavras-chave

Desenvolvimento da Educação. Política EducacionalPolítica SocialEscolaridadeDesempenho escolarDiferenças de RendaDiferença de escolaridade entre as regiões