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                   enGender Impact: The World Bank’s Gender Impact Evaluation Database



Does Child Labour Displace Schooling? Evidence on Behavioral Responses to an Enrollment
                                       Subsidy
       Author(s)            Martin Ravallion and Quentin Wodon
       Contact              qwodon@worldbank.org

       Country              Bangladesh

  Organizing Theme          Education and Skills

        Status              Completed

 Intervention Category      School Fee Reduction

        Sector              Education
                            It is often argued that child labour comes at the expense of schooling and so perpetuates
                            poverty for children from poor families. To test this claim we study the effects on
                            children's labour force participation and school enrollments of the pure school-price
                            change induced by a targeted enrollment subsidy in rural Bangladesh. Our theoretical
       Abstract
                            model predicts that the subsidy increases schooling, but its effect on child labour is
                            ambiguous. Our empirical model indicates that the subsidy increased schooling by far more
                            than it reduced child labour. Substitution effects helped protect current incomes from the
                            higher school attendance induced by the subsidy.
  Gender Connection         Gender Informed Analysis

  Gender Outcomes           Gender disaggregated school enrollment, school attendance

      IE Design             Instrumental Variable
                            Food-for-Education (FFE) programme in Bangladesh. The programme aims to keep the
                            children of poor rural families in school. In 1995-6, 2.2 million children participated (13%
                            of total enrolment). Participating households receive monthly food rations as long as they
     Intervention
                            send their children to primary school. Targeting is done in two stages. First economically
                            backward areas are chosen by the centre. Second, community groups - exploiting
                            idiosyncratic local information - select participants within those areas.
  Intervention Period       1995-1996
                            The sample is derived from a household survey and matched community survey. From the
  Sample population         sample 1295 of the children were deemed to be not in school. 11.8% of boys and 12.1% of
                            girls were classified as being in the workforce.
                            Children who live in a village that receives the school stipend are compared to children
Comparison conditions
                            who do not
    Unit of analysis        Child Level

  Evaluation Period         1995-1996




    Last updated: 14 August 2013                                                                       1
                   enGender Impact: The World Bank’s Gender Impact Evaluation Database


                            The subsidy increases schooling, but its effect on child labour is ambiguous. The empirical
                            model indicates that the subsidy increased schooling by far more than it reduced child
        Results             labour. Substitution effects helped protect current incomes from the higher school
                            attendance induced by the subsidy. the reduction in the incidence of child labour by boys
                            (girls) represents about one quarter (eighth) of the increase in their school enrollment rate.
                            The school stipend was not randomly allocated. Children may have substituted time into
Primary study limitations   other activities such as homework or after school activities. There may be other welfare
                            losses from work and other non-pecuniary gains from schooling.
    Funding Source
                            Ravallion, M., & Wodon, Q. (2000). Does child labour displace schooling? Evidence on
      Reference(s)
                            behavioural responses to an enrollment subsidy. The Economic Journal, 110(462), 158-175.
    Link to Studies
                            http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-0297.00527/abstract
       Microdata




    Last updated: 14 August 2013                                                                         2