The Effect of Primary School Type on the High School Opportunities of Migrant Children in China

Journal of Comparative Economics

Yuanyuan Chen, Yujie Han, Shuaizhang Feng

Abstract

Using longitudinal data collected from China, this paper studies how primary school type affects migrant children’s high school opportunities. We use parental residence prior to a policy change in Shanghai as an instrument for primary school type, and find that migrant children who attended private primary schools are 10% less likely to enter high schools without retention than their counterparts who attended public primary schools. We show that both institutional barriers and learning at the primary school stage affect students’ probability of entering high school and whether they go to regular or vocational high schools.

Keywords: School type; Migrant children; High school enrollment; China

JEL classification: I28; J15; O15