University of Arkansas professor Harry Anthony Patrinos has co-authored a new study published in the Journal of Population Economics on women’s education rights in Afghanistan.
The study, available here, finds that education delivers strong economic returns in Afghanistan and that limiting women’s access to schooling and work carries substantial economic costs.
Patrinos is the head of the U of A’s Department of Education Reform and serves as 21st Century Endowed Chair in Education Policy. The study, titled “The Mis-education of Women in Afghanistan: From Wage Premiums to Economic Losses,” analyzed nationally representative household surveys and administrative data using multiple estimation methods.
The results show that each additional year of schooling increases monthly earnings by 3 percent to 7 percent, with higher returns for women. It also found that restrictions on women’s education and employment translate into significant income losses at both the individual and national levels and highlights the economic importance of sustained investment in education — particularly for girls — even in conflict-affected settings.
Patrinos collaborated on the project with co-authors Rafiuddin Najam of the University of North Carolina and Raja Bentaouet Kattan of the World Bank Group.
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