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Compulsory Schooling Laws and the Cure for Child Labour
Author(s) -
Bellettini Giorgio,
Ceroni Carlotta Berti
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
bulletin of economic research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.227
H-Index - 29
eISSN - 1467-8586
pISSN - 0307-3378
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8586.2004.00199.x
Subject(s) - enforcement , economics , legislation , welfare , legislature , human capital , intervention (counseling) , imperfect , labour economics , capital (architecture) , law , public economics , market economy , political science , psychology , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , psychiatry , history
This paper provides an explanation for the existence of child labour which relies on the imperfect enforcement of compulsory schooling laws. In the presence of complementarities in the production of human capital that justify legislative intervention, mandatory measures ensure that coordination failures are solved so that all parents send their children to school and the socially optimal equilibrium is reached. However, if enforcement of legislation is too low, multiple equilibria emerge. In this case, compulsory schooling laws may have adverse welfare effects on all households.