Reviews several theoretical frameworks linking level and dispersion of schooling with income inequality. None of the theoretical constructs discussed seems to generate a clear prediction concerning schooling's effect on income inequality or absolute poverty in less developed countries. The empirical evidence also appears inconclusive. Includes 38…

Examines school enrollment and educational attainment in Kinshasa, Congo, focusing on how poverty, household structure, gender, and economic well-being affect investments in children's education. Increased economic well-being translates into greater attainment for both females and males, but does not necessarily reduce gender differences in school…

Faced with the evident impossibility of providing free or significantly subsidized secondary and higher education to all, many poor and middle income countries choose to educate only those students who are most promising, using public examinations as means of distributing scarce resources. This paper investigates the inequality implications of…