An Economic Analysis of Delayed Primary School Enrollment in a Low Income Country: The Role of Early Childhood Nutrition
研究低收入国家儿童为何延迟小学入学，利用加纳数据证实早期营养不良是主要原因，而非借贷约束或学校名额限制。
This paper investigates why children in low income countries often delay primary school enrollment, despite the prediction of human capital theory that schooling will begin at the earliest possible age. We explore several explanations for delayed enrollment, but focus on the hypothesis that delays are rational responses to early childhood malnutrition. We test these alternative hypotheses using recent data from Ghana. Our estimates, which address a number of previously ignored econometric issues, firmly support the hypothesis that early childhood malnutrition causes delayed enrollment. We find little or no support for alternative explanations based on borrowing constraints and the rationing of places in school. Copyright 1995 by MIT Press.