ECONOMIC GROWTH CENTER
                                
                        YALE UNIVERSITY
                                
                                
                        P.O. Box 208269
                      27 Hillhouse Avenue
               New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8269
                                
                                
                                
                                
                CENTER DISCUSSION PAPER NO. 792
                                
                                
                                
                                
           GENDER, CREDIT CONSTRAINTS, AND EDUCATION
                       IN RURAL THAILAND
                                
                                
                                
                                
                                
                         Viroj NaRanong
                                
            Thailand Development Research Institute
                                
                                
                                
                           April 1998




 Note: Center Discussion Papers are preliminary materials circulated to stimulate discussions and
       critical comments.  Dr. NaRanong was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Economic Growth Center
       and is a Research Assistant I at the Thailand Development Research Institute.  This is a
       revised version of the paper originally written in September 1995.




  Gender, Credit Constraints, and Education in Rural Thailand
                                
                                
                                
                         Viroj NaRanong
                                
                                
                                
                           April 1998
                                
                                
                                
                            Abstract
                                
     The study examines the effects of gender and credit constraints on rural students'
advancement to secondary education, which is arguably the major bottleneck in Thailand's education
system.  Credit constraints are measured indirectly through rainfall variation, availability of informal
lenders in the village, and household specific variables   especially titled land owned by the
household.

     The empirical evidence from two provinces in Northern and Northeastern Thailand, based on
the results of probit estimation, consistently confirms that gender differences affect investment in
boys' and girls' secondary education differently.  However, there are also some indications that the
gender effect has been diminishing over time.


               Key Words:     Credit Constraints, Education, Gender, Thailand

               JEL Codes:     J24, J16, O15