Measuring the determinants of school completion in Pakistan: analysis of censoring and selection bias

Abstract

This paper explores the demand for child schooling in Pakistan, using the Pakistan Integrated Household Survey (1991). There have been few such studies for Pakistan, a country with relatively low enrollment rates and education levels, high illiteracy, and a large disparity between male and female education. Additionally, this study focuses on two potential sources of bias in the estimation of the demand for schooling. First, studies that do not distinguish between currently enrolled children and those who have completed their schooling subject their estimates to a form of censoring bias. Second, studies that exclude children who have left the household from their samples may introduce sample selection bias if the decisions to leave home and to attend school are related. This study finds evidence of both “censoring” and “sample selection” bias in the demand for child schooling in Pakistan.