Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/266259 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
ifo Working Paper No. 382
Publisher: 
ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, Munich
Abstract: 
How can infrastructure help to reduce the gender education gap in developing countries? In this paper, I analyze the complementarity of all-weather roads and a bicycle program in Bihar, India, which aimed to increase girls' secondary school enrollment rate. Using Indian household survey data combined with a quadrupledifference estimation strategy, I find that the program's main beneficiaries are girls living at least 3km away from secondary schools whose villages are connected with all-weather roads. Their net secondary school enrollment rate increased by over 87 percent, reducing the respective gender education gap by around 45 percent. I find no effect for girls living in villages without an all-weather road, suggesting that allweather roads are not just complementary to the bicycle program but a precondition for its success. The findings highlight the importance of well-functioning infrastructure for the accessibility of secondary schools and the empowering of girls in India.
Subjects: 
Roads
bicycles
infrastructure
girls' education
gender education gap
India
JEL: 
O18
I21
I28
H42
J16
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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