Research Into The Educational Investment Behavior Of The Rural Family In China

There is a long history of families spending on children education. However, the educational investment by the family emerges during the course of institutional change of the government educational investment. Since 1970's, the western educational investment system has become market-oriented, the principal part of the investor into the non-compulsory education being shared by the government and families. Influenced by the stream of the worldwide educational investment reform, the educational investment institution in China has also been reformed,characterized by the individual investment into the education. The implementation of cost-sharing and compensating institution of higher education has induced the gradual formation of the behavior of educational investment by the family.The dual economic structure is typical in China,where agricultural production is backward and the farmer's income grows slowly. Under the background of institutional change of the educational investment,educational investment ability from many rural families is evidently restrained greatly by the shortage of currency. The peasant children's access to the improvement in economic and social status would be blocked unless the problem is effectively solved. The difference in the ability to invest in education is likely to result in the inequity in the opportunity of education and consequently jeopardize the principle of equal education. What is more, the low family income might be prolonged by the transference mechanism in education. The low income of the peasant would linger at the low level. Therefore,the deficiency in the educational investment ability in the rural family is not simply a commonplace problem encountered by the family or individual,but a prime one related to the national economy and the people's livelihood.Against the domestic and international changes in the educational investment,this dissertation systematically analyzes the plight and causes of China's educational investment by the rural family,focusing on the policy-making and its limitation, which have led to the polarization and troublesome situation in the educational investment by the rural family. The dissertation is intended to provide practical and theoretical support for the government to perfect its policies in educational budget and support. It is also meant to improve the investment ability of the educational investment by the rural family and the capital stock of human resources in the rural area.Chapter 1, Introduction. From the portal of the worldwide institution change in education and educational investment situation of rural family in China,the background,aim and significance of the dissertation is introduced. The paper objectively concluded and evaluated the worldwide trend in the educational investment. With the full consideration of the small-scale peasant economy in our country, the dissertation researches into the rural investment in education against the background of the reform in China's educational investment policy. The unique thesis of this dissertation is thus formed. The technical path, research method and the possible innovations are constituted according to the research aims and the key issues.Chapter 2,Fundamental theory of educational investment behavior of the rural family. The fundamental theory of this dissertation is formed through that (i) the proposition of the limited rationality from the neo-institution economics is more suited to the economic behavior of China's rural family after the systematic introduction and analysis of the behavior motive and decision model of the family economy and altruist characteristics, and (ii) such theories are introduced as the fundamental theory of educational investment behavior by the family,especially the fundamental conception and measure methods of the cost and benefit of education, over-education phenomenon and its explanatory theory, etc.Chapter 3,Reference of the international educational investment institution. The change in the responsibility of the western family investment for education and in the principles and conditions of the individual sponsor was discussed in view of reform in the national investment for education and the change of financial support in the major western countries. The pattern and trend of change in educational investment by the family was therefore concluded to provide the international background for the research into the educational investment by the rural family in China.Chapter 4,The current status and behavior of educational investment in China's rural families. This chapter is the proposition of the dissertation. A series of analysis is carried out as follows, (i) the current condition and the behavior of the family investment in education,(ii) the status and multiple puzzle of educational investment behavior by the rural family in China under the condition of grave money constraint.Chapter 5,The influence of constitutional reform on the educational investment behavior of the rural family in China. This dissertation analyzes (i) the cost of educational investment by rural family in China based on the change of China's Macro-economic system,(ii) the influence of the change in China's educational investment on the educational investment behavior by the rural family,and (iii) the systematic factor of the change in the educational investment of the family. The analysis laid the basis for the optimization of the systematic environment of the educational investment by the rural family.Chapter 6,The influence of the ability to invest in education by the rural family. After comparison of the differences between the city and the countryside and demonstrative analysis of the educational investment of China's rural family, the dissertation points out the fact that the cost in educational investment by the rural family is too high, that family income within a limited time is too low and increases slowly and that the ability to invest in education by the rural family is generally insufficient. By the correlation between the income of the rural family and the investment in education, the dissertation points out that educational investment by the family is the key approach to the fate of the individual and the family and that the equity in education is the foundation in social equity. Finally, after the analysis of the subjective and objective causes of the deficiency in family investment in education, the dissertation believes that social and government support is the key to improve the ability to invest in education by the rural family.Chapter 7,The influence of the investment risk on the educational investment by China's rural family. The investment risk in education results mainly from the systematic risk of the labor market, the major cause being the information gap between the rural family and the labor market. The ability to invest in education and the endurance to the risk differs for families with varied income. Lastly, the paper analyzes the external causes of the educational investment by China's rural family to provide the rural family with means to avoid the investment risk.Chapter 8,Optimization of the strategy design for the educational investment by the rural family. The dissertation puts forward the suggestions for the government's public financial system; educational investment system and the innovation of education sponsor system, (i) continue to implement the supportive policy in the public finance; (ii) continue to exert the government's principal status in educational investment; (iii) perfect the social sponsor system; (iv) expand the financing channel of the educational investment by the rural family; (v) establish the unified and open labor market. All this is meant to enhance the farmer's ability to increase income and accumulate wealth; to unchain the currency restraint on the rural families; further optimize information environment in the rural area, labor market and employment environment; and lower the investment risk in education.Chapter 9,Conclusions. The conclusions are as follows, (i) the education cost is by far much higher than educational investment ability of the rural family; (ii) the insufficiency of educational investment ability of rural family may affect the income flows in intra- and inter- generations leading to the inequity of revenue allocation; (iii) educational investment risk of the rural family is mainly the employment risk from the labor market; (iv) the government's educational investment institution directly decides the proportion and direction of educational investment by the family; v) that the enterprise assumes the principal status in educational investment can relieve the burden and risk of educational investment by the family; and (vi) the perfection of social sponsor system and suitable incentive mechanism can change the situation that the government invests alone in education support.