MEASURING EDUCATIONAL INEQUALITY AMONG NORTHEASTERN´S COUNTIES

ABSTRACT This study aims to analyze educational inequality in the Northeast Region of Brazil based on data from the 2010 Census. For this purpose, the Educational Gini Index (IGE) has been estimated for the portion of the economically active population aged 15 years and over residing in the 1793 municipalities of the Northeast. Analytical techniques included Spatial Data (ESDA) and Spatial Regression Analysis to detect the importance of a number of variables related to household, education and the economy of counties accounted for in the IGE. Results suggest that the state of Bahia shows the lowest educational inequality rates among all Northeast states, while Alagoas is the one with the highest inequality rate (0.467). As for the spatial analysis of educational inequality, spatial dependence has been detected regarding the municipalities and their neighbors. It has also been found that per capita income, net school attendance, IES presence and municipal per capita PIB contribute to the reduction of inequality. And the low impact of educational variables can be attributed to their long-term effect; as a result, investment and public policies directed to educational become really important, since they will only have an impact on the reduction of educational inequality among the municipalities in the long run.

摘要：本研究基于巴西2010年人口普查数据，旨在剖析巴西东北地区的教育不平等问题。为此，本研究针对巴西东北地区1793个市镇内15岁及以上经济活动人口群体，估算了教育基尼系数（Educational Gini Index，IGE）。本研究采用探索性空间数据分析（ESDA）与空间回归分析技术，用以识别与家庭、教育及县域经济相关的多类变量对教育基尼系数的贡献程度。研究结果显示，巴西东北地区各州中，巴伊亚州的教育不平等程度最低，而阿拉戈斯州的不平等程度最高（0.467）。针对教育不平等的空间分析表明，各市镇与其邻近区域存在空间依赖性。研究同时发现，人均收入、净入学率、高等教育机构（IES）的存在以及市镇人均国内生产总值（PIB）有助于降低教育不平等程度。而教育类变量影响较弱的原因可归结为其作用具有长期滞后性；因此，针对教育领域的投资与公共政策显得尤为关键，因为此类举措仅能在长期层面推动各市镇间教育不平等程度的降低。