Evidências sobre financiamento e liderança feminina na expansão da oferta de educação infantil no Brasil

Abstract

Early childhood education is the first stage of basic education in Brazil, and this thesis examines how oil royalties and female leadership (elected women mayors) influence the expansion of early childhood education provision in Brazilian municipalities. The thesis is composed of three essays. The first analysis shows the effect of receiving oil royalties on the Net Enrollment Rate (NER) of babies and children aged 0 to 3 in daycare centers and children aged 4 to 5 in preschool. Using a municipal panel dataset from 2007 to 2019 and fixed-effects models, it was found that municipalities benefiting from royalties enroll, on average, 1.7 percentage points more children in daycare, but show no significant impact on preschool NER. The second essay investigates the relationship between the volume of royalties received by Brazilian municipalities and the NER, using a dose–response model. The results indicate that the increase in revenue from royalties contributed positively to the expansion of daycare enrollment, suggesting a more elastic relationship between funding and this educational stage. Thus, the findings of the first two essays suggest that the receipt of oil royalties by municipalities contributes to meeting Target 1 of the National Education Plan (PNE/2014), which aims to universalize preschool attendance and ensure that at least 50% of children are enrolled in daycare. The third essay examines the relationship between close electoral contests between male and female candidates for the municipal executive and the School Attendance Rate (SAR) of children aged 0 to 3 and 4 to 5. Based on four municipal elections—held in 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016—and using the regression discontinuity method, it was found that municipalities with female mayors have an SAR (0 to 3 years) 2.5 percentage points higher than those governed by male mayors. Therefore, the results suggest that female leadership tends to prioritize policies directed at early childhood, which may contribute to expanding access to early childhood education. Taken together, these findings reinforce that both the resources derived from oil royalties and political factors, especially the presence of women heading municipal executives, play relevant roles in the expansion of early childhood education in Brazil, highlighting that the interplay between financial resources and political will is crucial for reducing inequalities and expanding the right to education from the earliest years of life.