Abstract
We test hypotheses on the role of socio-economic and cultural factors and of characteristics of the
educational infrastructure on primary school enrolment using data for 70,000 children living in 439 districts
of 26 states of India. Most of the variation in educational enrolment (around 70%) is explained by factors at
the household level, of which socio-economic factors are most important. In urban areas, none of the
characteristics of educational facilities studied is significantly related to participation, thus indicating that in
the cities schooling decisions are hardly influenced by supply-side factors. In rural areas, however, these
factors do play an important role. If there are fewer schools or teachers, or if the local culture is more
patriarchal, rural children – in particular girls – participate substantially less. Interaction analyses show that
effects of factors at the household level depend on characteristics of the context in which the household
lives. A major finding in this respect is that in rural areas inequalities between socio-economic status groups
are lower if more schools and teachers are available.