Determinants of School Dropout in Lao People's Democratic Republic: A Survival Analysis

Using the most recent round of a nationally representative survey series, this study examines determinants of dropout from basic education in Lao People's Democratic Republic. The existing studies show that, unlike in other developing countries, the effects of household income and gender are limited. Our analysis confirms the former but not the latter—gender inequality remains an issue to be resolved. Further, separate estimations by gender indicate that the significant effects of mother's education and rural/urban residence obtained in pooled data are due to the effects on female students, which highlights the need for more policy focus on female students in rural areas.