Social Institutions, Parental Investments and Educational Attainment: Evidence from Age-sets in Uganda

Matthew Collins, Patrick Wing McHale and Devon Spika

No 12940, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: Education is widely seen as a key driver of economic growth, yet social institutions may mediate efforts to improve outcomes. We study how age-set organisation---where societies are structured into age-based social groups---shapes parental human capital investments and children’s educational attainment. Children in age-set societies receive greater investments, improving health and schooling at younger ages. Yet effects on education dissipate between the ages of 13-16, coinciding with the timing of age-set initiation. We also find that universal secondary education raised schooling only in non-age-set societies. These findings highlight how the impacts of social institutions can vary across the life-cycle.

Keywords: social organisation; parental investment; human capital; child development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I25 J24 O15 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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