Evidence on female education from India: what is the impact of trade liberalization?
Vaidya, Jahnvi A.
2015
- This paper uses the 1991 Indian tariff reforms to investigate the impact of trade liberalization on education. In urban and rural India, in the 1990s, poverty declined and school attendance increased. However, studies find that in areas in which employment is concentrated in industries exposed to larger reductions in tariffs, poverty decreased less, and attendance increased less than in areas less ... read moreexposed to tariff reductions. I take advantage of the variation in pre-reform employment composition within districts, and differential rates of tariff decline by industry, to identify the impact of tariff cuts on total years of schooling. I find that in districts more exposed to liberalization, one specific subgroup is significantly and positively affected. For women in rural areas in the lowest 30% of the income distribution, tariff declines are associated with an increase in average years of schooling. In districts experiencing the average decline in district tariffs of 5.5%, average years of education for poor rural women increased by almost a year. Other demographic groups are not significantly affected by tariff reforms. I find that the most likely mechanism for this result is tariff and poverty-induced increases in female labor force participation, which increases relative female income in low socioeconomic status households. This could increase girls’ returns to education, and increase women’s household bargaining power, which could reduce the gender education gap.read less
- ID:
- 5t34sw47x
- Component ID:
- tufts:sd.0000318
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