The willingness to pay for education for daughters in contrast to sons: Evidence from rural Peru

In most of the developing world the education of women lags behind that of men. This could come about from a lack of parental desire for educated daughters or from a perception by the parents that there is a lower net return to education for girls. The relation between gender and education in rural Peru is explored using data from the 1985-86 Peru Living Standards Survey. A model of educational choice is developed. The estimated demand functions are used to assess the impact of user fees on demand and revenues. The empirical evidence indicates that parents are more willing to pay for reduced travel time to secondary school for boys than for girls. However, parents are willing to pay increased fees for girls' schooling sufficient to generate teachers' salaries.