The Distribution of Primary School Quality within High- and Low-Income Countries

Abstract

In the literature on economic development, much attention over the last 2 decades has been focused on the association between gross national product per capita and inequality of income distribution. Investigators have been preoccupied with three theories: (1) whether, in the process of development, income distribution first becomes less equal and only later more equal;' (2) whether economic growth would be retarded by emphasizing redistributional income policies;2 and (3) whether the distribution of income is determined by factors external to the local economyfor example, by the degree of state strength, direct foreign financial control, or dependence on external markets.3 In each case, however, the answer has been incomplete. Income of individuals is the end product of, at least, ascription (e.g., social status), ambition, available opportunity, capability, and productivity. Some of these factors in turn depend on initial opportunity for education; and within education, the opportunity for secondary and higher education will depend, among other things, on first obtaining a place in primary school. Universal school enrollment (grades 1-6) has now been achieved in 35 middleand upper-middle-income countries since World War II. In the 36 poorest countries of the world, enrollment has increased from