Why am I late for school? Peer effects on delayed school entry in rural northwestern China. Issue 6 (2nd November 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chen, Qihui
• Is Part Of: Education economics. Volume 29:Issue 6(2021)
• Page Start: 624
• Page End: 650
• Publication Date: 2021-11-02
• Subjects: School entry age -- peer effects -- instrumental variables -- rural China; Education -- Economic aspects -- Periodicals; 338.4737
• DOI: 10.1080/09645292.2021.1926932
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0964-5292

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This paper estimates peer effects on children's school entry age, using a dataset on 4, 165 children from rural northwestern China (Gansu province). Instrumental-variable estimation, exploiting variations in (older) peers' home-to-school distance to identify the effect of their school entry age, reveals that a one-year increase in (older) peers' school entry age raises a child's school entry age by 0.43 years. This effect is much stronger than the effects of family-background factors such as parental education and family wealth, suggesting that the dominant driving force of delayed school enrollment lies outside of the family.