Obstacles to Schooling Progression: An Analysis of Field Survey Data from Rural Pakistan*

By integrating field surveys conducted in twenty-five Pakistani villages with economic theory and econometric analysis, this paper aims to identify the obstacles to school progression. The full-information maximum likelihood (FIML) estimation of the sequential-schooling-decision model uncovers important dynamics of gender difference in educational attainment, transitory income and wealth effects, and intrahousehold resource allocation patterns. We find, among other things, that there is a high educational retention rate and that schooling progression rates become comparable between male and female students at a high level of education. Our overall findings are consistent with the theoretical implications of optimal schooling behavior under binding credit constraints. Particularly, we find that the birth-order effects on education are gender and education-stage specific. Finally, we find serious demand- and supply-side constraints on female primary education, suggesting the importance of both demand- and supply