Child labor and school policies

This paper investigates whether child labor is socially inefficient. Baland and Robinson (2000) show that child labor might be inefficient when parents care for their children's welfare. In their model, child labor is explained by two factors: poverty and capital market imperfections. However, education in their model is readily available in terms of access, affordability and quality. This paper shows that the incidence of child labor is negatively related to school quality and positively related to the labor market conditions for children. It also shows that when children have no access to school or their access is limited, child labor is socially efficient. Therefore, a ban on child labor is not necessarily Pareto improving. Reprinted by permission of Fundação Getulio Vargas