Why do girls in rural China have lower school enrollment? - Lina Song and Simon Appleton

Boys are more likely than girls to attend school in rural China. There is evidence that gender equity is a 'luxury good'; the demand for female schooling is more income elastic than that of male schooling. Maternal education generally has a stronger effect on primary school enrollment and on educational expenditure than paternal education does. However, maternal education has a weaker effect on girls' enrollment in secondary school than paternal education does. There appears to be no monetary return to schooling for women, but a modest benefit for men. Housholds also appear to face a higher opportunity cost when enrolling young women than when enrolling young men.
From: World Development (Vol. 34 no. 9), pp. 1639-1653