Are educated individuals more likely to be civically engaged? Evidence from rural Bangladesh

• Advocates for increased investment in education based on the argument that the outcomes or benefits of education progress beyond just economic outcomes to include non-economic outcomes such as civic engagement. • Emphasizes that evidence for the non-economic private and social benefits of education is central for continued and increased investment of public funding of education. • Uses nationally (rurally) representative Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS) survey data and employs rigorous logit, Poisson and Propensity Score Matching (PSM) models to explore the extent to which different levels of formal education are associated with civic engagement. • Findings show that individuals with higher levels of education are more likely to be comfortable public speakers and more likely to contribute to the community. • Establishs that there is a civic payoff to education after all, and in highlighting this- provides grounds for policymakers to begin to contemplate increasing the public investment in education for the sake of not only labour market outcomes, but also for non-labour market outcomes such as civic engagement. In the context of the Global South, including Bangladesh, education is often advocated for its labor market and economic returns. However, education also yields non-labor-market benefits that contribute to societal and economic transformation. Understanding these non-economic private and social returns is critical to justify continued public investment in education. This paper examines the relationship between education and civic engagement in rural Bangladesh. Using nationally representative data from the Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS) and applying logit, Poisson, and Propensity Score Matching (PSM) models, we investigate how different levels of formal education are associated with civic behaviors. The findings indicate that higher educational attainment significantly increases individuals' likelihood of public speaking and community contributions, highlighting the civic benefits of education. While acknowledging the limitations of causal inference, the analysis underscores the importance of education in fostering active civic participation in rural settings. These results suggest that public investment in education not only promotes economic growth but also strengthens civic engagement, a cornerstone for sustainable development and social cohesion.