The Effect of Parental Background on Track Choices and Wages
Abstract
Intergenerational links are often investigated by computing educational attainment correlations between parents and children, even though parental background may influence outcomes at earlier stages of the educational path. Because of early school track selection and widespread vocational training, this effect may be quite important in the Swiss context. We first investigate the importance of parental background variables for upper secondary educational attainment over the last 6 decades. We next estimate the impact of parental background on earnings. This effect is shown to depend on the magnitude of intergenerational correlations, the returns to qualifications and the availability of further training for those having ended up in a low educational track at age 15. The impact of tracking at age 15 on wage inequality is found to be relatively small in Switzerland, comparing to results for Germany. Relatively low returns from academic education best explain this pattern.Download Info
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Article provided by Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES) in its journal Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics.
Volume (Year): 147 (2011)
Issue (Month): II (June)
Pages: 157-180
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Related research
Keywords: intergenerational mobility; upper secondary education; returns to education;Find related papers by JEL classification:
- J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
- J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
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Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- Jean Marc Falter & Florian Wendelspiess Chávez Juárez & Giovanni Ferro-Luzzi, 2012. "Does Tracking Shape the Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Attainment? Evidence from Switzerland," Working Papers halshs-00771941, HAL.
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