In October 2015, the project “Household Expenditures on Education in Latin America” was approved, with external funding from the Research Department of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
It is led by Dr. Néstor Gandelman, academic coordinator of the Department of Economics at Universidad ORT Uruguay, with support from Santiago Acerenza, M.A.
Governments in Latin America have developed extensive public education systems. These systems are generally tuition-free, particularly at the primary and secondary levels.
However, there are other sources of education-related expenses, such as books, notebooks, other supplies, transportation, and clothing, among others. Household spending on education varies widely. Some households spend little or nothing, while others allocate a significant portion of their total budget to education.
The objective of this project is to study the determinants of household spending on education in Latin America. The basic methodology involves estimating Engel equations using income and expenditure survey data for more than a dozen Latin American countries.