Mapping and Understanding Ethnic Disparities in Length of Schooling: The Case of Ningxia Autonomous Region, China

39 Pages Posted: 8 Nov 2014

See all articles by Björn Gustafsson

Björn Gustafsson

University of Gothenburg - Department of Social Work; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Ding Sai

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)

Abstract

Disparities in length of schooling between the largest Muslim minority in China, the Hui, and the Han majority are investigated. We use household data collected in Ningxia autonomous region in 2007. It is found that compared with Han persons of the same age and gender, Hui persons have shorter educations with the exception of young and middle-aged urban males who have twelve years of schooling, on average. Particularly noteworthy is that as many as 45 percent of adult rural Hui females are not literate. Possible reasons for the shorter educations of Hui in many segments of the population are numerous.We show that the incentive to invest in length of schooling is smaller among Hui than Han as the association between education and income is weaker. We also report that Hui parents spend fewer resources on education than Han parents and that fewer years of schooling for Hui in the first generation helps to explain why Hui persons in the second generation have shorter educations.

Keywords: China, schooling, Hui ethnicity, Han ethnicity, Ningxia, inequality

JEL Classification: I24, J15, P35

Suggested Citation

Gustafsson, Bjorn and Sai, Ding, Mapping and Understanding Ethnic Disparities in Length of Schooling: The Case of Ningxia Autonomous Region, China. IZA Discussion Paper No. 8595, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2520770 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2520770

Bjorn Gustafsson (Contact Author)

University of Gothenburg - Department of Social Work ( email )

Göteborg
Sweden
+46 31-773-1890 (Phone)
+45 31-773-1888 (Fax)

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Ding Sai

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) ( email )

Beijing, 100732
China

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