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Poverty Reduction in China: The Contribution of Popularizing Primary Education
Author(s) -
Song Yang
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
china and world economy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.815
H-Index - 28
eISSN - 1749-124X
pISSN - 1671-2234
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-124x.2012.01275.x
Subject(s) - regression discontinuity design , poverty , compulsory education , china , primary education , rural area , economic growth , economics , quality (philosophy) , development economics , demographic economics , business , labour economics , geography , political science , medicine , law , philosophy , archaeology , epistemology , pathology
Using the instrumental variable model and the regression discontinuity approach, this paper explores how access to primary education affects the Chinese labor market and helps people to escape poverty. Several important findings are obtained. The popularization of primary education has significantly reduced poverty in China, especially in urban areas. In contrast, the Compulsory Education Law has not been well implemented for older children in rural areas. In addition, the labor market premium for completing primary education is much larger in urban areas than in rural areas. Poor rural school quality might explain this rural–urban disparity. Effort needs to be made to further reduce poverty by ensuring adequate financial resources for primary education in poor areas and improving school quality in rural China.