Cyclical economic conditions and school attendance in Costa Rica

In this paper, I examine the importance of declining economic conditions in school attendance decisions for households with teenagers aged 12–17 in Costa Rica. I estimate a reduced-form model for school attendance that includes variables to measure household labor market integration, other household factors, teenager characteristics, regional effects and year effects. The year effects — to measure cyclical factors — show a large drop in school attendance not otherwise explained by the household variables included between the years of macroeconomic recession (1981–1983). These changes coincide with fiscal austerity imposed towards the end of 1982. In addition, household labor market characteristics and teenager characteristics are significant determinants of teenager school attendance.  1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.