Variable type

Variable name

Variable definitions

Min

Max

Mean

Standard deviation

Dependent

Education expenditure (lnexp)

Education expenditure last year

1.60

10.82

6.49

1.44

Explanatory variables

Family investment ability:

Whether the mother is Employed (work_m)

Mother’s income (lnpinc_m)

Whether the father is employed (work_f)

Father’s income (lnpinc_f)

1 = yes; 0 = no

Mother’s annual income (yuan)

1 = yes; 0 = no

Father’s annual income (yuan)

0

0

0

0

1

13.59

1

13.30

0.37

8.60

0.57

9.46

0.48

1.72

0.49

1.14

human capital:

Mother’s degree (edu_m)

Father’s education (edu_f)

1 = illiteracy;

2 = primary school;

3 = junior high school;

4 = high school;

5 = College;

6 = Undergraduate;

7 = master’s degree; 8 = PhD

1

1

8

8

2.57

2.86

1.25

1.20

Investment object

Child sex (gender_c)

Account type (hukou_c)

1 = male; 0 = female

1 = city; 0 = rural

0

0

1

1

0.51

0.29

0.49

0.45

Cross terms (cross)

work_m*gender_c, Cross-term between employment of |mother and child’s gender

0

1

0.19

0.39

Mother’s age (age_m)

Father’s age (age_f)

Child’s age (age_c)

Age of child mother

Child father’s age

Child’s age

21

36

6

76

77

15

36.42

38.33

10.43

5.21

5.49

2.93

Mother’s area (region_m)

1 = west; 2 = middle; 3 = east

1

3

2.19

0.79