PurposeThe main purpose of this study is to identify the socioeconomic determinants of dropout from primary schools and to give policy suggestions to address the issue.Design/methodology/approachA total of 600 dropout and enrolled respondents were selected from 60 government primary schools of district Chiniot. School heads and parents of dropout children were taken as samples. The results were obtained by employing the Probit regression model.FindingsNumbers of family members, age of the family head, exchange marriage and poverty status have positive relationship with dropout from primary schools. The findings revealed a higher rate of dropout among girls, which is a major cause of concern.Practical implicationsEducation is regarded as a basic human right and a valuable human capital. It is included in Millennium Development Goals to achieve universal primary education and in Sustainable Development Goals as quality education. Underdeveloped countries are facing the problems of high dropout and lack of quality education, especially in Pakistan. These problems need to be addressed to keep pace with developed nations and to meet development goals.Originality/valueIt is recommended that government should create employment opportunities, family planning programs, legislature measures on exchange marriage and child labor. The involvement in co-curricular activities in learning and usage of audio-visual aids in the teaching process can improve the enrollment in the primary schools.

Willingness to pay (WTP) for vaccination of hepatitis disease is a good measure to monetize the physical effects of a disease into monetary values. Therefore, the present study aims to find the willingness to pay for self-paid vaccines for hepatitis and its determinants in an industrial district Faisalabad, Pakistan. Primary data was collected from 200 nonpatients of hepatitis which were personally interviewed by using convenient sampling method. A scenario was presented to the selected respondents by using CVM technique. The respondents were randomly assigned to pre-chosen payment bids defined on the basis of prevailing market rates for vaccination at the time of survey. The multivariate linear regression was used to find the determinants of WTP. The results show that females are slightly more willing to pay as compared to males. The variables like age, income and awareness about hepatitis have positive impact on WTP for vaccination of hepatitis disease. About 57.3 percent people belonging to low income group wanted vaccination free of cost in Pakistan.Government should launch free vaccination programs for the most vulnerable group (poor) and must launch awareness campaign to increase knowledge about disease.

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