Determinants of School Choice: Evidence from Rural Punjab, Pakistan

Hamna Ahmed () and Sahar Amjad Sheikh ()
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Hamna Ahmed: Assistant Professor, Lahore School of Economics, Lahore, Pakistan.
Sahar Amjad Sheikh: Teaching Fellow, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan.

Lahore Journal of Economics, 2014, vol. 19, issue 1, 1-30

Abstract: The objective of this study is to understand why parents in rural areas of Punjab, Pakistan, choose to send their children to private schools when free public schools are available. The study utilizes the Privatization in Education Research Initiative (PERI) school choice dataset compiled by the Lahore School of Economics in collaboration with the Punjab Bureau of Statistics. These data provide rich information on parents’ perception of their child’s school relative to alternative schools he or she could have attended. The findings suggest that parents’ perceptions play an important role in school choice. In particular, their perceptions of school quality and employment opportunities emerge as key determinants of private school choice. Additionally, expenditure on and access to private schooling relative to public schooling as well as the socioeconomic status of the household have a significant impact on parents’ probability of choosing a private school for their child.

Keywords: School choice; public vs private; rural Punjab; Pakistan. markets; forecasting; exchange rate volatility; Pakistan. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A19 H13 R20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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