All books bought on the website can only be read on the app. Download Jackobian to have access to your materials
This paper examines the determinants of higher education enrolment in Ethiopia
using a unique longitudinal data that follows the lives of young people over a pe-
riod of 14 years (from age 8 to age 22). The study employed a stepwise estimation
strategy and assessed the role of early childhood accumulation of human capital
and selection on individual-specific unobservable characteristics through lagged
achievement (i.e., test scores at age 12). Results from the estimation indicate sub-
stantial inequalities in access to higher education arising from location, household
wealth, prior academic performance, and gender. We also find that an academically
strong but poor individual at the age of 12 is less likely to access higher education
between ages 19 and 22 compared to an academically weak but rich individual at
the age of 12. This finding is not likely a case of the poor being rationed out by
price since academic performance in entrance exam is the primary filter mechanism
that determine who gains access to higher education in Ethiopia. What seems more
likely is that individuals are rationed out by not having the resources to continu-
ously invest in tutoring and study to do well in entrance examinations. Therefore,
early intervention that provide direct financial support to academically sound but
poor children could significantly increase higher education enrolment in the future.
