IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/pacecr/v26y2021i1p70-90.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Patterns and determinants of intergenerational educational mobility: Evidence across countries

Author

Listed:
  • Hanol Lee
  • Jong‐Wha Lee

Abstract

This study analyses the patterns and determinants of the intergenerational persistence of education attainment. Internationally comparable data are used by age cohort for parentsʼ and childrenʼs education levels for 30 countries. The intergenerational regression coefficients are estimated by explicitly considering the bias from the censored regressor, and they show that educational mobility has worsened over generations in most countries. However, the degree of change varies considerably across countries and over time. Country‐cohort panel regressions are performed using the estimates of intergenerational educational mobility and covariates. The results show that intergenerational educational mobility tends to decrease with income inequality, inflation and credit constraints. However, it increases with per capita GDP and public expenditure on primary education relative to that on tertiary education.

Suggested Citation

  • Hanol Lee & Jong‐Wha Lee, 2021. "Patterns and determinants of intergenerational educational mobility: Evidence across countries," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 70-90, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:pacecr:v:26:y:2021:i:1:p:70-90
    DOI: 10.1111/1468-0106.12342
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0106.12342
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1468-0106.12342?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christian Daude & Virginia Robano, 2015. "On intergenerational (im)mobility in Latin America," Latin American Economic Review, Springer;Centro de Investigaciòn y Docencia Económica (CIDE), vol. 24(1), pages 1-29, December.
    2. Rong Hai & James Heckman, 2017. "Inequality in Human Capital and Endogenous Credit Constraints," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 25, pages 4-36, April.
    3. Magne Mogstad, 2017. "The Human Capital Approach to Intergenerational Mobility," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(6), pages 1862-1868.
    4. Rasmus Landersø & James J. Heckman, 2017. "The Scandinavian Fantasy: Sources of Intergenerational Mobility in Denmark and the US," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 119(1), pages 178-230, January.
    5. Jo Blanden, 2013. "Cross-Country Rankings In Intergenerational Mobility: A Comparison Of Approaches From Economics And Sociology," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 38-73, February.
    6. Christopher Herrington, 2015. "Public Education Financing, Earnings Inequality, and Intergenerational Mobility," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 18(4), pages 822-842, October.
    7. Neidhöfer, Guido & Serrano, Joaquín & Gasparini, Leonardo, 2018. "Educational inequality and intergenerational mobility in Latin America: A new database," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 329-349.
    8. Bernt Bratsberg & Knut Røed & Oddbjørn Raaum & Robin Naylor & Markus Ja¨ntti & Tor Eriksson & Eva O¨sterbacka, 2007. "Nonlinearities in Intergenerational Earnings Mobility: Consequences for Cross-Country Comparisons," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(519), pages 72-92, March.
    9. Miles Corak, 2013. "Income Inequality, Equality of Opportunity, and Intergenerational Mobility," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 27(3), pages 79-102, Summer.
    10. repec:idb:wpaper:386 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Robert C. Feenstra & Robert Inklaar & Marcel P. Timmer, 2015. "The Next Generation of the Penn World Table," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(10), pages 3150-3182, October.
    12. John Hassler & José Rodríguez Mora & Joseph Zeira, 2007. "Inequality and mobility," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 235-259, September.
    13. Black, Sandra E. & Devereux, Paul J., 2011. "Recent Developments in Intergenerational Mobility," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 16, pages 1487-1541, Elsevier.
    14. Yoko Niimi, 2018. "Do borrowing constraints matter for intergenerational educational mobility? Evidence from Japan," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 628-656, October.
    15. Sen, Anindya & Clemente, Anthony, 2010. "Intergenerational correlations in educational attainment: Birth order and family size effects using Canadian data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 147-155, February.
    16. Jo Blanden & Stephen Machin, 2013. "Educational Inequality and The Expansion of UK Higher Education," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 60(5), pages 578-596, November.
    17. Gary S. Becker & Scott Duke Kominers & Kevin M. Murphy & Jörg L. Spenkuch, 2018. "A Theory of Intergenerational Mobility," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 126(S1), pages 7-25.
    18. Maoz, Yishay D & Moav, Omer, 1999. "Intergenerational Mobility and the Process of Development," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 109(458), pages 677-697, October.
    19. Ira N. Gang & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2000. "Is Child like Parent? Educational Attainment and Ethnic Origin," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 35(3), pages 550-569.
    20. Cheng Yuan & Chengjian Li & Lauren A. Johnston, 2018. "The intergenerational education spillovers of pension reform in China," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(3), pages 671-701, July.
    21. Diego Restuccia & Carlos Urrutia, 2004. "Intergenerational Persistence of Earnings: The Role of Early and College Education," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(5), pages 1354-1378, December.
    22. Ambar Narayan & Roy Van der Weide & Alexandru Cojocaru & Christoph Lakner & Silvia Redaelli & Daniel Gerszon Mahler & Rakesh Gupta N. Ramasubbaiah & Stefan Thewissen, 2018. "Fair Progress?," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 28428, December.
    23. Heineck Guido & Riphahn Regina T., 2009. "Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Attainment in Germany – The Last Five Decades," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 229(1), pages 36-60, February.
    24. Mikael Lindahl & Mårten Palme & Sofia Sandgren Massih & Anna Sjögren, 2015. "Long-Term Intergenerational Persistence of Human Capital: An Empirical Analysis of Four Generations," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(1), pages 1-33.
    25. Owen, Ann L. & Weil, David N., 1998. "Intergenerational earnings mobility, inequality and growth," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 71-104, February.
    26. Nohora Forero-Ramírez & Floor E. W. Knoote & Sofía Ortega-Tíneo, 2015. "Children and the Financial Regulatory Landscape in Latin America," Borradores de Economia 905, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    27. Christian Dustmann, 2008. "Return Migration, Investment in Children, and Intergenerational Mobility: Comparing Sons of Foreign- and Native-Born Fathers," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 43(2), pages 299-324.
    28. Bhashkar Mazumder, 2005. "Fortunate Sons: New Estimates of Intergenerational Mobility in the United States Using Social Security Earnings Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(2), pages 235-255, May.
    29. De La O,Ana Lorena, 2015. "Crafting Policies to End Poverty in Latin America," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107089488.
    30. Orhan Torul & Oguz Oztunali, 2017. "Intergenerational Educational Mobility in Europe," Working Papers 2017/03, Bogazici University, Department of Economics.
    31. Hertz Tom & Jayasundera Tamara & Piraino Patrizio & Selcuk Sibel & Smith Nicole & Verashchagina Alina, 2008. "The Inheritance of Educational Inequality: International Comparisons and Fifty-Year Trends," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 7(2), pages 1-48, January.
    32. Debopam Bhattacharya & Bhashkar Mazumder, 2011. "A nonparametric analysis of black–white differences in intergenerational income mobility in the United States," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 2(3), pages 335-379, November.
    33. Orsetta Causa & Åsa Johansson, 2010. "Intergenerational Social Mobility in OECD Countries," OECD Journal: Economic Studies, OECD Publishing, vol. 2010(1), pages 1-44.
    34. Raj Chetty & Nathaniel Hendren & Patrick Kline & Emmanuel Saez, 2014. "Where is the land of Opportunity? The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility in the United States," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(4), pages 1553-1623.
    35. Gary S. Becker & Nigel Tomes, 1994. "Human Capital and the Rise and Fall of Families," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition, pages 257-298, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    36. Azomahou,Theophile T. & Yitbarek,Eleni Abraham, 2016. "Intergenerational education mobility in Africa : has progress been inclusive ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7843, The World Bank.
    37. Steven N. Durlauf & Ananth Seshadri, 2018. "Understanding the Great Gatsby Curve," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(1), pages 333-393.
    38. Checchi, Daniele & Ichino, Andrea & Rustichini, Aldo, 1999. "More equal but less mobile?: Education financing and intergenerational mobility in Italy and in the US," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(3), pages 351-393, December.
    39. Orsetta Causa & Åsa Johansson, 2009. "Intergenerational Social Mobility," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 707, OECD Publishing.
    40. -, 2015. "Capital Flows to Latin America and the Caribbean: 2014 Overview," Oficina de la CEPAL en Washington (Estudios e Investigaciones) 37739, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    41. Eric A. Hanushek & Charles Ka Yui Leung & Kuzey Yilmaz, 2014. "Borrowing Constraints, College Aid, and Intergenerational Mobility," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 8(1), pages 1-41.
    42. Checchi, Daniele & Fiorio, Carlo V. & Leonardi, Marco, 2013. "Intergenerational persistence of educational attainment in Italy," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 118(1), pages 229-232.
    43. Bauer, Philipp & Riphahn, Regina T., 2006. "Timing of school tracking as a determinant of intergenerational transmission of education," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 90-97, April.
    44. Daouli, Joan & Demoussis, Michael & Giannakopoulos, Nicholas, 2010. "Mothers, fathers and daughters: Intergenerational transmission of education in Greece," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 83-93, February.
    45. Jing Qian & Sy Han Chiou & Jacqueline E. Maye & Folefac Atem & Keith A. Johnson & Rebecca A. Betensky, 2018. "Threshold regression to accommodate a censored covariate," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 74(4), pages 1261-1270, December.
    46. Ariel Kalil & Magne Mogstad & Mari Rege & Mark E. Votruba, 2016. "Father Presence and the Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Attainment," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 51(4), pages 869-899.
    47. repec:idb:brikps:6883 is not listed on IDEAS
    48. Amin, Vikesh & Lundborg, Petter & Rooth, Dan-Olof, 2015. "The intergenerational transmission of schooling: Are mothers really less important than fathers?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 100-117.
    49. Zhi Li & Hai Zhong, 2017. "The impact of higher education expansion on intergenerational mobility," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 25(4), pages 575-591, October.
    50. Rong Hai & James Heckman, 2017. "Inequality in Human Capital and Endogenous Credit Constraints," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 25, pages 4-36, April.
    51. Roberto Rigobon & Thomas M. Stoker, 2007. "Estimation With Censored Regressors: Basic Issues," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 48(4), pages 1441-1467, November.
    52. Becker, Gary S & Tomes, Nigel, 1979. "An Equilibrium Theory of the Distribution of Income and Intergenerational Mobility," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(6), pages 1153-1189, December.
    53. Peter Dolton & Rita Asplund & Erling Barth (ed.), 2009. "Education and Inequality Across Europe," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12921.
    54. Frederick Solt, 2016. "The Standardized World Income Inequality Database," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 97(5), pages 1267-1281, November.
    55. Kit‐Chun Lam & Pak‐Wai Liu, 2019. "Intergenerational Educational Mobility in Hong Kong: Are Immigrants More Mobile than Natives?," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(1), pages 137-157, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Luana dos Santos Fraga & Tatiane Pelegrini & Izete Pengo Bagolin, 2022. "The Factors Influencing Intergenerational Mobility Levels among Higher Education Graduates in Brazil: A Comparison of the Years 2004 and 2018," Journal of Social and Development Sciences, AMH International, vol. 13(1), pages 59-71.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guido Neidhöfer, 2019. "Intergenerational mobility and the rise and fall of inequality: Lessons from Latin America," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 17(4), pages 499-520, December.
    2. Liu, Qijun & Song, Lijie, 2022. "Do intergovernmental transfers boost intergenerational income mobility? Evidence from China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 293-309.
    3. Tharcisio Leone, 2022. "The geography of intergenerational mobility: Evidence of educational persistence and the “Great Gatsby Curve” in Brazil," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 1227-1251, August.
    4. Tharcisio Leone, 2019. "The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility: Evidence of Educational Persistence and the “Great Gatsby Curve" in Brazil," Documentos de Trabajo 17526, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA).
    5. Neidhöfer, Guido & Serrano, Joaquín & Gasparini, Leonardo, 2018. "Educational inequality and intergenerational mobility in Latin America: A new database," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 329-349.
    6. Théophile T. Azomahou & Eleni Yitbarek, 2021. "Intergenerational mobility in education: Is Africa different?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(3), pages 503-523, July.
    7. Leone, Tharcisio, 2019. "The geography of intergenerational mobility: Evidence of educational persistence and the "Great Gatsby Curve" in Brazil," GIGA Working Papers 318, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    8. Lijie Song, 2022. "Examining the Relationship Between Intergenerational Upward Mobility and Inequality: Evidence from Panel Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 1-27, August.
    9. Bhashkar Mazumder, 2018. "Intergenerational Mobility in the United States: What We Have Learned from the PSID," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 680(1), pages 213-234, November.
    10. Anna Christina D'Addio, 2007. "Intergenerational Transmission of Disadvantage: Mobility or Immobility Across Generations?," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 52, OECD Publishing.
    11. Huang, Xiao & Huang, Shoujun & Shui, Ailun, 2021. "Government spending and intergenerational income mobility: Evidence from China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 387-414.
    12. Orhan Torul & Oguz Oztunali, 2017. "Intergenerational Educational Mobility in Europe," Working Papers 2017/03, Bogazici University, Department of Economics.
    13. Trombetta Martin & Villafañe María Fernanda, 2023. "Movilidad ocupacional intergeneracional en Argentina," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4695, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    14. Ercio Muñoz, 2021. "The Geography Of Intergenerational Mobility In Latin America And The Caribbean," Papers 2021_02, Centro de Estudios Espinosa Yglesias.
    15. Nizam MelikÅŸah Demirtas & Orhan Torul, 2021. "Intergenerational Income Mobility in Turkey Abstract:," Working Papers 2021/05, Bogazici University, Department of Economics.
    16. Markus Jäntti & Stephen P. Jenkins, 2013. "Income Mobility," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 607, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    17. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/7d426vdmrr8am8khcm1fvu5adl is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Hellier, Joël, 2017. "Stratified higher education,social mobility at the top and efficiency: The case of the French ‘Grandes écoles’," MPRA Paper 76724, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Rasmus Landersø & James J. Heckman, 2017. "The Scandinavian Fantasy: Sources of Intergenerational Mobility in Denmark and the US," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 119(1), pages 178-230, January.
    20. Van Der Weide,Roy,Lakner,Christoph,Mahler,Daniel Gerszon,Narayan,Ambar,Nichanametla Ramasubbaiah,Rakesh Gupta, 2021. "Intergenerational Mobility around the World," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9707, The World Bank.
    21. Leone, Tharcisio, 2021. "The gender gap in intergenerational mobility," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • O50 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:pacecr:v:26:y:2021:i:1:p:70-90. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1361-374X .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.