The Impact of Birth Plannedness on Educational Outcome: A Cultural Approach

Superstition influences fertility decisions in Asian countries. As such, an individual’s lunar birth zodiac could affect their parents’ birth wantedness, and thus, inform their achievement in education. This thesis uses the 2018 Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey data to answer this question in the context of Vietnam. Categorizing lunar years into three groups: good, bad, and neutral, I use these characteristics as proxy variables for the birth wantedness to evaluate its influence on educational outcomes. The findings of this research contribute to the universally consistent understanding of the importance of birth wantedness on children’s education. The thesis also unfolds the impacts of some Vietnam-customized patterns on educational achievements, such as geographical context and gender discrimination. These insights have implications for both our understanding of household behavior and policymaking.