Adult returns to schooling and children's school enrollment: theory and evidence from South Africa

Abstract

We study how the returns to education in the adult labor market affect children's school enrollment. We show that when families are liquidity constrained, the expected relationship between higher returns and children's schooling is ambiguous. When liquidity constraints matter, the relationship can only be assessed empirically. For African-South African liquidity-constrained households, we find a positive relationship that is quite robust.

Citation

Donovan, S. and Swinnerton, K.A. (2010), "Adult returns to schooling and children's school enrollment: theory and evidence from South Africa", Akee, R.K.Q., Edmonds, E.V. and Tatsiramos, K. (Ed.) Child Labor and the Transition between School and Work (Research in Labor Economics, Vol. 31), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 297-319. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0147-9121(2010)0000031013