Urban and Rural Dimensions of Educational Inequality

Takahiro Akita

No EMS_2024_05, Working Papers from Research Institute, International University of Japan

Abstract: This study introduces a method for the decomposition of the education Gini coefficient by location and examines the characteristics of this Gini decomposition method through the use of hypothetical examples. It empirically analyzes the determinants of educational inequality in some Asian countries using the Gini decomposition method. In a dual economy consisting of the rural and urban sectors, the education Gini coefficient can be additively decomposed into three distinct components: the within-sector, between-sector, and residual Gini components. The within-sector component measures educational inequality within the rural and urban sectors, while the between-sector component measures the rural-urban disparity in the mean level of educational attainment. The residual component assesses the extent of overlap between the rural and urban sectors in the distribution of educational attainment. In all selected Asian countries, including four ASEAN countries and three SAARC countries, the within-sector Gini component is a predominant determinant by accounting for 40-50% of the overall education Gini coefficient. There is a significant negative relationship between the between-sector component and the residual component in terms of their contributions to overall education Gini coefficient, indicating that the rural-urban overlap in the distribution of educational attainment rises as the rural-urban education disparity declines. When Bangladesh is excluded as an outlier, a significant positive relationship exists between mean years of education and the contribution of the residual component to overall education Gini coefficient, signifying that the rural-urban overlap in the distribution of educational attainment increases as mean years of education rises.

Keywords: Keywords: urban and rural dimensions; educational inequality; education Gini coefficient; decomposition of the Gini coefficient; ASEAN countries; SAARC countries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 24 pages
Date: 2024-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-sea
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