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ABORTION AND HUMAN CAPITAL ACCUMULATION: A CONTRIBUTION TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE GENDER GAP IN EDUCATION
Author(s) -
Azarnert Leonid V.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
scottish journal of political economy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.4
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1467-9485
pISSN - 0036-9292
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9485.2009.00498.x
Subject(s) - abortion , human capital , investment (military) , economics , offspring , demographic economics , empirical evidence , gender gap , labour economics , pregnancy , political science , economic growth , law , biology , philosophy , genetics , epistemology , politics
This article analyzes the relationship between abortion and female education. It provides new empirical evidence from sub‐Saharan Africa to show that more liberal abortion policies are associated with a higher female secondary school enrollment. It is assumed in the model that easier access to abortion decreases probability of dropping out of school for a female child in the case of an occasional pregnancy. As a consequence, it enhances parental investment in human capital of their female offspring and helps to reduce the gender gap in education.