The author is concerned with the role of education as a determinant of health care choices. His central premise is that utilization of health services is determined not solely by an individual's own education, but rather by a notion of effective education, which incorporates the educational...

The author analyzes decentralization reforms in the education sector in Latin America (their status, impact, and ongoing challenges) by making use of the accountability framework developed by the World Development Report 2004: Making Services Work for Poor People. She starts by identifying three...

The quality of education is a determining factor in a nation's competitiveness. To compete globally, Mexico needs to raise its education standards. Several innovations to raise the quality of basic education at the federal and state levels have been developed: professional training of teachers,...

Breaking the intergenerational transmission of poverty requires far-reaching actions in the education sector. Widespread poverty affects both students'performance and their availability to attend school. Low-quality education leads to low income, which in turn perpetuates poverty. Furthermore,...

The author explores how schools change in response to increased competition generated by voucher programs in Chile. A unique data set provides information on teacher demographics and labor market characteristics, as well as teachers'perceptions of school management. When teacher data are matched...

Financial aid to students in tertiary education can contribute to human capital accumulation through two channels: increased enrollment and improved student performance. We analyze the quantitative importance of both channels in the context of a student loan program (SOFES) implemented at...

The authors analyze the relationship between orphan status, household wealth, and child school enrollment using data collected in the 1990s from 28 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and one country in Southeast Asia. The findings point to considerable diversity-so...

About 20,000 early childhood development centers provided day care for and prepared for primary school more than 1 million children aged three to seven (roughly 20 percent of children in that age group) in Kenya in 1995. The number of child care facilities reached 23,690 by the end of 1999. The...

Teachers'salaries have often been highlighted as an important issue in discussionson school improvement. The level and structure of teacher remuneration affect morale and the ability to focus on and devote adequate time to teaching. The author examines who teachers are, whether teachers are...

Vietnam experienced a dramatic decline in child labor during the 1990s. The authors explore this decline in detail and document the heterogeneity across households in both levels of child labor and in the incidence of this decline in child labor. Theauthors find a strong correlation between...