Education for Productivity or Positionality: Parental Inputs and Children’s Academic Achievement

• In Event: Investment, Inputs and Hoarding: The Role of Parents and Families on Status and Achievement

Abstract

This study investigates how detailed parental investments affect children’s absolute learning and their competitive standing in China’s exam-driven system. Linking CFPS 2014 & 2018 data on 3,676 students aged 10–15 to matched parental spending, tutoring, communication, monitoring, and aspirations, we estimate county- and wave-fixed-effects regressions for standardized cognitive scores and fractional-logit models for relative percentile ranks. General educational expenditure and frequent parent-child discussion consistently predict higher scores and higher ranks, while tutoring participation, homework policing, and television bans do not. When outcomes shift from absolute to relative measures, the benefit of discussion surpasses expenditure and parental aspirations become salient. Findings provide empirical support for the distinctive roles of different resources that translate into productivity and positional advantage, respectively.

Author

• XIAO YUAN, Chinese University of Hong Kong