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How Equal Are Educational Opportunities? Family Background and Student Achievement in Europe and the United States

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Author Info
Ludger Woessmann ()

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Abstract

This paper estimates the effects of family-background characteristics on student performance in the US and 17 Western European school systems. Family background has strong effects both in Europe and the United States, remarkably similar in size. France and Flemish Belgium achieve the most equitable performance for students from different family backgrounds, and Britain and Germany the least. Equality of opportunities is unrelated to countries' mean performance. Quantile regressions show little variation in family-background effects across the ability distribution in most countries.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by CESifo Group Munich in its series CESifo Working Paper Series with number CESifo Working Paper No. 1162.

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Date of creation: 2004
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Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_1162

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Related research
Keywords: equality of opportunity; student performance; family background; TIMSS; equity-efficiency tradeoff; intergenerational mobility;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Brunello, Giorgio & Checchi, Daniele, 2003. "School Quality and Family Background in Italy," IZA Discussion Papers 705, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Jesse Levin, 2001. "For whom the reductions count: A quantile regression analysis of class size and peer effects on scholastic achievement," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 221-246. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
  6. Robert J. Barro, 2001. "Human Capital and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(2), pages 12-17, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
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  23. Hakkinen, Iida & Kirjavainen, Tanja & Uusitalo, Roope, 2003. "School resources and student achievement revisited: new evidence from panel data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 329-335, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Ammermüller, Andreas & Pischke, Jörn-Steffen, 2006. "Peer Effects in European Primary Schools: Evidence from PIRLS," CEPR Discussion Papers 5660, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Bauer, Philipp & Riphahn, Regina T., 2004. "Heterogeneity in the Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Attainment: Evidence from Switzerland on Natives and Second Generation Immigrants," IZA Discussion Papers 1354, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Guido Heineck & Regina T. Riphahn, 2007. "Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Attainment in Germany: The Last Five Decades," SOEPpapers 37, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Gosta Esping-Andersen, 2008. "Childhood investments and skill formation," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 19-44, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Jaag, Christian, 2006. "School Competition," MPRA Paper 339, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  6. Volker Meier & Matthias Wrede, 2005. "Pension, Fertility, and Education," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  7. Sandra Hanslin & Rainer Winkelmann, 2006. "The Apple Falls Increasingly Far: Parent-Child Correlation in Schooling and the Growth of Post-Secondary Education in Switzerland," Working Papers 0603, University of Zurich, Socioeconomic Institute. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Philipp Bauer & Regina Riphahn, 2006. "Education and its intergenerational transmission: country of origin-specific evidence for natives and immigrants from Switzerland," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer, vol. 5(2), pages 89-110, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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This page was last updated on 2009-11-3.

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