Regional wealth disparity and its impact on urban and rural child schooling in developing economies: a case of Punjab (Pakistan)

Objective: The purpose of this study is to check how regional wealth disparity affects urban and rural schooling in Punjab. It is an effort to explore the influence of wealth disparity between the districts of Punjab on school enrolment of children 3-4 and 5-9 years age group using micro data-sets of cluster survey in 2007-08, 2011 and 2014 in Pakistan. Methodology: This study uses the probit model and the principal component analysis to check district wealth disparity in Punjab, Pakistan. Findings: The principal variable i.e., socioeconomic disparity influences the school attendance severely in Punjab, however it affects more the rural areas. Practical Implications: The sliding down the disparity desires equivalent distribution of funds from government of Punjab to the districts. The policy objective is to highlight the development of the districts of Punjab. Originality: This study creates the district wealth disparity index with various formula and principal component analysis to check how regional wealth disparities affect schooling.