arbiter
JournalsAccount

Effects of Vietnam’s Universal Primary Education Law on Women’s Education, Marriage, Fertility, and Labor Market Outcomes

Anh P. Ngo

Education Finance and Policy2026https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp.a.443article
ABDC A
Weight
0.50

Abstract

Using data from the Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys from 2014, 2016, and 2018, and the Vietnam Population and Housing Census from 2019, I apply a differences-in-differences framework to assess the impacts of Vietnam’s 1991 universal primary education policy on women’s education, marriage, fertility, and employment. Results from the reduced form estimates suggest that the policy increased the probability of having at least primary education by 3.10 percentage points (3.69%) – 16 percentage points (17.02%) and the probability of having at least secondary education by 6.30 percentage points (8.51%) – 10.50 percentage points (14.19%). There is a 6.5 percentage point (12.75%) increase in women’s probability of being literate in the post-policy period. The policy decreased the number of child deaths. However, there is no evidence of the effects of the policy on women’s marriage, the probability of having a job, and the probability of having at least one child. The IV estimates on the effects of education on fertility and child mortality suggest that having more education may decrease women’s fertility and child mortality. The IV estimates of the effects of education on wages further indicate that having more education may increase women’s annual wages.

Open via your library →

Cite this paper

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp.a.443

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{anh2026,
  title        = {{Effects of Vietnam’s Universal Primary Education Law on Women’s Education, Marriage, Fertility, and Labor Market Outcomes}},
  author       = {Anh P. Ngo},
  journal      = {Education Finance and Policy},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp.a.443},
}

Paste directly into BibTeX, Zotero, or your reference manager.

Flag this paper

Effects of Vietnam’s Universal Primary Education Law on Women’s Education, Marriage, Fertility, and Labor Market Outcomes

Flags are reviewed by the Arbiter methodology team within 5 business days.

Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.