Female Admission Cap in Higher Education : The Case of Iran

We study the effect of an Iranian educational policy implemented in 2012 that restricted access to higher education for women in 30% of Iran’s public universities, mostly in sciences and engineering. To analyze the effect of the policy, we use a triple difference strategy across gender, cohorts and regions. We find that the admission cap was binding, as it significantly reduced university attendance by women relative to men. Additionally, we find that the policy had a negative impact on female labor force participation and employment, and a positive impact on marrying at a young age. Furthermore, we explore heterogeneous treatment effects for urban and rural areas and show that most observed effects are driven by individuals in urban areas