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Working versus schooling: the impact of social expenditure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2016

Christopher Grigoriou  and
Grégoire Rota Graziosi
Christopher Grigoriou
Affiliation:
CERDI-CNRS, University of Auvergne. Email: c.grigoriou@u-clermont1.fr,
Grégoire Rota Graziosi
Affiliation:
CERDI-CNRS, University of Auvergne. Email: g.rota_graziosi@u-clermont1.fr
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Summary

We develop a theoretical model where child labour results from a household's trade-off between sending a child to school or to work. Education is considered as a risky investment, since the survival of the child is not certain. We explore the effects of public expenditure on education and health on child labour, specifying a transmission mechanism for each kind of spending. On the one hand, we establish that health expenditure reduces child labour all the more as child mortality rate is high. On the other hand, a moderate aversion to risk is a necessary condition for education expenditure to reduce child labour. Our theoretical results are empirically validated on panel data from 66 developing countries between 1985 and 2000.

Résumé

Résumé

Cet article présente un modèle où le travail des enfants résulte d'un arbitrage du ménage entre scolariser ou faire travailler l'enfant. L'éducation est considérée comme un investissement risqué, la survie de l'enfant étant incertaine. L'impact des dépenses publiques d'éducation et de santé sur le tra¬vail des enfants est pris en compte en spécifiant un mécanisme de transmis¬sion propre à chaque type de dépense. Il apparaît d'une part que les dépenses de santé permettent de réduire d'autant plus le travail des enfants que la mortalité des enfants est élevée. D'autre part une aversion au risque modérée est une condition nécessaire pour que les dépenses d'éducation permettent de réduire le travail des enfants. Ces résultats théoriques sont validés empiriquement sur un panel de 66 pays en développement entre 1985 et 2000.

Keywords

J20K31D60travail des enfantsdépenses publiques de santédépenses publiques d'éducationchild laboureducation spendinghealth spending
Type
Research Article
Information
Recherches Économiques de Louvain/ Louvain Economic Review , Volume 74 , Issue 1 , 2008 , pp. 33 - 52
Copyright
Copyright © Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de recherches économiques et sociales 2008 

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