Flying Ducks? Girls Schooling in Rural Vietnam: A Revisit

In Vietnam, girls are colloquially referred to as 'flying ducks' as they are regarded as a loss to the family upon marriage. Using the Vietnam Living Standards Surveys of 1992-1993 and 1997-1998, the method of Doiron and Riddell (1994) is applied to decompose the probability gap of being in school to explore gender differences in children's education and changes over time. The unexplained component is found to account for most of the observed gender probability gap in each period. Over time, however, the gap has narrowed. The explained component (namely, household income and children's involvement in housework or work activities) contributes to the narrowing gap. Cutting the indirect cost of education for girls (forgone contribution in work and housework) is crucial in ensuring girls have the same education opportunities as boys do.