The determinants of schooling investments of rural Filipino households, 1985-2002

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the demand-side factors affecting the schooling progression of Filipino children of school age, using household panel data collected over a span of 17 years. The following patterns emerge: (1) daughters complete more years of schooling than sons; (2) parental pro-daughter preferences become stronger when the children reach tertiary school age; (3) household permanent income significantly and positively affects schooling progression and its effect is far greater than that of transitory income; and (4) the effect of transitory income does not appear to be statistically significant. Our results are consistent with the theoretical implications of the educational investments of credit-constrained households.

JEL classification: D13, O15