Empirical essays in the economics of education

Long, Zhen (2025) Empirical essays in the economics of education. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis contributes to understanding the education of disadvantaged children within the field of Economics, with a focus on rural China, where educational inequalities are prominent. Chapter 1 examines the relationship between parental migration and children’s cognitive abilities and school engagement. The findings show that while parental migration does not significantly impact cognitive abilities, it negatively affects school satisfaction for both boys and girls, with a more pronounced effect on boys. Boys’ school engagement also suffers due to parental absence. Chapter 2 presents a survey report. The survey focuses on ethnic minority children who were potentially exposed to the "One Village, One Preschool" (OVOP) program. The survey gathered data on family background, parental care, school engagement, personality, and peer relationships. The results indicate that participation in the OVOP program enhances social skills, self-control, and learning habits, which helps explain the academic performance gap between participants and non-participants. Chapter 3 evaluates the impact of the OVOP program on ethnic minority children’s academic performance and socioemotional skills using academic records and survey data. The findings suggest that the OVOP program significantly improves academic outcomes and enhances socio-emotional skills, including task performance, emotional regulation, social engagement, and open-mindedness.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory; L Education > L Education (General)
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Economics
• Supervisor's Name: Zhang, Dr. Anwen and Battisti, Professor Michele
• Date of Award: 2025
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2025-85026
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 10 Apr 2025 11:28
• Last Modified: 10 Apr 2025 14:10
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.85026
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/85026