Table 1

Descriptive Statistics of Student Demographics and Family Characteristics

	All	Repeaters	Nonrepeaters	Raw Gap
Female	0.476 (0.499)	0.417 (0.493)	0.488 (0.500)	−0.007 (0.007)
Urban hukou	0.483 (0.500)	0.252 (0.434)	0.528 (0.499)	−0.024^* (0.011)
Only child	0.423 (0.494)	0.145 (0.352)	0.478 (0.500)	−0.022^*** (0.007)
Student age in years	13.585 (0.746)	14.306 (0.806)	13.443 (0.645)	0.179^*** (0.014)
Mother education in years	9.618 (3.573)	7.509 (3.206)	10.033 (3.494)	−0.002 (0.002)
Father education in years	10.393 (3.141)	8.716 (2.433)	10.725 (3.160)	−0.002 (0.002)
Low income	0.212 (0.408)	0.370 (0.483)	0.180 (0.385)	0.006 (0.011)
Mother occupation
Civil servants and government officials	0.034 (0.182)	0.012 (0.109)	0.038 (0.192)
Executives and managers	0.052 (0.223)	0.012 (0.109)	0.060 (0.238)	0.012 (0.019)
Teachers, engineers, doctors, and lawyers	0.060 (0.237)	0.019 (0.136)	0.068 (0.252)	0.013 (0.018)
Technicians (including drivers)	0.043 (0.204)	0.049 (0.216)	0.042 (0.201)	0.026 (0.023)
Manufacturing workers	0.117 (0.322)	0.137 (0.344)	0.113 (0.317)	−0.003 (0.020)
Marketing, sales, and service	0.150 (0.357)	0.104 (0.306)	0.159 (0.366)	0.008 (0.018)
Self-employed	0.162 (0.368)	0.116 (0.321)	0.170 (0.376)	0.005 (0.018)
Farmers	0.219 (0.414)	0.394 (0.489)	0.185 (0.389)	0.010 (0.028)
Unemployed	0.092 (0.289)	0.075 (0.264)	0.095 (0.293)	0.010 (0.020)
Other	0.070 (0.255)	0.080 (0.272)	0.068 (0.252)	0.046^* (0.021)
Father occupation
Civil servants and government officials	0.052 (0.223)	0.025 (0.155)	0.058 (0.233)	Omitted
Executives and managers	0.085 (0.279)	0.018 (0.133)	0.098 (0.297)	−0.031+ (0.016)
Teachers, engineers, doctors, and lawyers	0.071 (0.257)	0.052 (0.221)	0.075 (0.263)	0.009 (0.016)
Technicians (including drivers)	0.176 (0.381)	0.179 (0.383)	0.176 (0.381)	−0.016 (0.018)
Manufacturing workers	0.093 (0.290)	0.106 (0.308)	0.090 (0.287)	−0.028 (0.019)
Marketing, sales, and service	0.166 (0.273)	0.117 (0.253)	0.176 (0.276)	−0.019 (0.019)
Self-employed	0.166 (0.372)	0.117 (0.321)	0.176 (0.381)	−0.028 (0.018)
Farmers	0.189 (0.392)	0.340 (0.474)	0.160 (0.367)	0.003 (0.028)
Unemployed	0.025 (0.157)	0.022 (0.146)	0.026 (0.159)	−0.033 (0.024)
Other	0.061 (0.239)	0.073 (0.261)	0.058 (0.234)	−0.023 (0.020)
Family risk factors
At least one parent is absent from home	0.246 -0.431	0.399 -0.450	0.220 -0.412	0.001 (0.009)
Father gets drunk regularly	1.082 (0.274)	1.110 (0.313)	1.076 (0.266)	0.031^* (0.013)
Parents always quarrel	1.096 (0.295)	1.126 (0.332)	1.090 (0.287)	0.004 (0.014)
Observations	8,454	1,392	7,062	8,454

All

Repeaters

Nonrepeaters

Raw Gap

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Female

0.476

(0.499)

0.417

(0.493)

0.488

(0.500)

−0.007

(0.007)

Urban hukou

0.483

(0.500)

0.252

(0.434)

0.528

(0.499)

−0.024^*

(0.011)

Only child

0.423

(0.494)

0.145

(0.352)

0.478

(0.500)

−0.022^***

(0.007)

Student age in years

13.585

(0.746)

14.306

(0.806)

13.443

(0.645)

0.179^***

(0.014)

Mother education in years

9.618

(3.573)

7.509

(3.206)

10.033

(3.494)

−0.002

(0.002)

Father education in years

10.393

(3.141)

8.716

(2.433)

10.725

(3.160)

−0.002

(0.002)

Low income

0.212

(0.408)

0.370

(0.483)

0.180

(0.385)

0.006

(0.011)

Mother occupation

Civil servants and government officials

0.034

(0.182)

0.012

(0.109)

0.038

(0.192)

Executives and managers

0.052

(0.223)

0.012

(0.109)

0.060

(0.238)

0.012

(0.019)

Teachers, engineers, doctors, and lawyers

0.060

(0.237)

0.019

(0.136)

0.068

(0.252)

0.013

(0.018)

Technicians (including drivers)

0.043

(0.204)

0.049

(0.216)

0.042

(0.201)

0.026

(0.023)

Manufacturing workers

0.117

(0.322)

0.137

(0.344)

0.113

(0.317)

−0.003

(0.020)

Marketing, sales, and service

0.150

(0.357)

0.104

(0.306)

0.159

(0.366)

0.008

(0.018)

Self-employed

0.162

(0.368)

0.116

(0.321)

0.170

(0.376)

0.005

(0.018)

Farmers

0.219

(0.414)

0.394

(0.489)

0.185

(0.389)

0.010

(0.028)

Unemployed

0.092

(0.289)

0.075

(0.264)

0.095

(0.293)

0.010

(0.020)

Other

0.070

(0.255)

0.080

(0.272)

0.068

(0.252)

0.046^*

(0.021)

Father occupation

Civil servants and government officials

0.052

(0.223)

0.025

(0.155)

0.058

(0.233)

Omitted

Executives and managers

0.085

(0.279)

0.018

(0.133)

0.098

(0.297)

−0.031+

(0.016)

Teachers, engineers, doctors, and lawyers

0.071

(0.257)

0.052

(0.221)

0.075

(0.263)

0.009

(0.016)

Technicians (including drivers)

0.176

(0.381)

0.179

(0.383)

0.176

(0.381)

−0.016

(0.018)

Manufacturing workers

0.093

(0.290)

0.106

(0.308)

0.090

(0.287)

−0.028

(0.019)

Marketing, sales, and service

0.166

(0.273)

0.117

(0.253)

0.176

(0.276)

−0.019

(0.019)

Self-employed

0.166

(0.372)

0.117

(0.321)

0.176

(0.381)

−0.028

(0.018)

Farmers

0.189

(0.392)

0.340

(0.474)

0.160

(0.367)

0.003

(0.028)

Unemployed

0.025

(0.157)

0.022

(0.146)

0.026

(0.159)

−0.033

(0.024)

Other

0.061

(0.239)

0.073

(0.261)

0.058

(0.234)

−0.023

(0.020)

Family risk factors

At least one parent is absent from home

0.246

-0.431

0.399

-0.450

0.220

-0.412

0.001

(0.009)

Father gets drunk regularly

1.082

(0.274)

1.110

(0.313)

1.076

(0.266)

0.031^*

(0.013)

Parents always quarrel

1.096

(0.295)

1.126

(0.332)

1.090

(0.287)

0.004

(0.014)

Observations

8,454

1,392

7,062

8,454

↵Notes: All variables are binary unless otherwise noted. While some variables have missing values, the missing rates for student characteristics variables are all below 4 percent. Standard deviations in parentheses from Columns 1–3. In Column 4, we regress the indicator of whether a student is a repeater against student and family characteristics while controlling for school fixed effects to examine whether the differences between repeaters and nonrepeaters reach statistical significance. Standard errors are in parentheses. + p<0.10, *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p < 0.001.