The role of the private sector in education in Vietnam: Evidence from the Vietnam living standards survey

Since the move from a centrally planned to a market economy is recent, it is not surprising that private schools are rare. Estimates of the determinants of school choice indicate that better-off households are less likely to send their children to semi-public schools but more likely to send them to private schools. Willingness to spend on education increases as household incomes rise. In addition, the marginal cost to households of switching from public to private schools may be small. Given its importance in determining children's ultimate attainment, parental education should be considered in any targeting efforts.