Few studies have investigated the causal spillover effects of compulsory education on children's siblings. Using a regression discontinuity method, I find that Hong Kong's 1971 free compulsory primary education policy reduced the dropout probability for the eldest siblings of full policy beneficiaries, especially for children in low-income…

This paper examines the causal impacts of Hong Kong's 1971 policy of free compulsory education on students' educational attainment. Using a regression discontinuity method and Hong Kong Census data, this study compares children born just before and just after the month in which the compulsory-education law came into effect. The results show that…

During the 1970s, the Hong Kong government declared elementary and lower secondary schooling to be free and compulsory and increased funding at all levels. Analysis of census data on birth cohorts in their upper teens in 1971-86 found increasing educational attainment over time and decreasing effects on educational attainment of parent income and…