The quantity-quality transition in Asia

Abstract

A working paper on transition in Asia is presented in this document. The first part of the document presents the microeconomic perspective on fertility and schooling which motivated the study. The second part reexamines the Asian record on fertility and schooling. Comparisons were drawn between the experiences of the rapidly growing economies of east and southeast Asia and the slower-growing economies of south and south-central Asia. The third part reviews empirical evidence on economic rates of return to schooling in Asia and then explores with the aid of cross-national data several hypotheses about the macroeconomic factors that can affect these rates. The fourth part deals with family-level evidence and estimates of fertility and childrens schooling from Pakistan Bangladesh Indonesia Malaysia Philippines Thailand and Taiwan. The subject of concern in this section is whether powerful family-level forces were continuing to promote a quantity-quality transition even with aggregate returns to schooling held constant. The final part discusses the results and conclusions of the study.