The Impact of Educational Fee Reduction Reform on School Enrolment in Rural China

Abstract

We investigate the impact of educational fee reduction reform on children's school enrolment in rural China. Using data from Gansu Survey of Children and Families, we find that the reform did not have significant impacts on school enrolment of 9-12 year old children, while the reform had significant impacts on school enrolment of 13-16 year old children. We also find that for children enrolled in 2004, the higher are the fee reductions, the higher is the probability for them to stay in school in 2007. Heterogeneous effects in terms of different characteristics are also found in this paper.

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