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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
Woessmann, Ludger () (ifo, University of Munich, CESifo and IZA Bonn)

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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 Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 1284.

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Length: 38 pages
Date of creation: Sep 2004
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1284

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

Other versions of this item:

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

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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)
  3. Lindahl, Mikael, 2001. "Summer Learning and the Effect of Schooling: Evidence from Sweden," IZA Discussion Papers 262, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  4. Orley Ashenfelter & Colm Harmon & Hessel Oosterbeek, 1999. "A Review of Estimates of the Schooling/Earnings Relationship, with Tests for Publication Bias," Working Papers 804, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section.. [Downloadable!]
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  5. 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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  15. Bruce Sacerdote, 2002. "The Nature and Nurture of Economic Outcomes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 344-348, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Gary Solon, 2002. "Cross-Country Differences in Intergenerational Earnings Mobility," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 59-66, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Bjorklund, Anders & Jantti, Markus, 1997. "Intergenerational Income Mobility in Sweden Compared to the United States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(5), pages 1009-18, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  21. 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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  24. Boissiere, M & Knight, J B & Sabot, R H, 1985. "Earnings, Schooling, Ability, and Cognitive Skills," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(5), pages 1016-30, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  25. Jere R. Behrman & Mark R. Rosenzweig, 2002. "Does Increasing Women's Schooling Raise the Schooling of the Next Generation?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 323-334, March. [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. Philipp Bauer & Regina T. Riphahn, 2005. "Heterogeneity in the Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Attainment: Evidence from Switzerland on Natives and Second Generation Immigrants," Center for European, Governance and Economic Development Research (cege) Discussion Papers 38, Center for European, Governance and Economic Development Research, University of Goettingen (Germany).. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Berardino Cesi, 2006. "Public investment and higher education inequality," Discussion Papers in Economics 06/3, Department of Economics, University of Leicester. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Jaag, Christian, 2006. "School Competition," MPRA Paper 339, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  5. 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:
  6. Volker Meier & Matthias Wrede, 2005. "Pension, Fertility, and Education," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo GmbH. [Downloadable!]
  7. Guido Heineck & Regina T. Riphahn, 2007. "Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Attainment in Germany: The Last Five Decades," IZA Discussion Papers 2985, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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