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Intergenerational Mobility and Schooling Decisions in Germany and Italy: The Impact of Secondary School Tracks

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Author Info
Daniele Checchi () (University of Milan, CEPR and IZA)
Luca Flabbi () (Georgetown University, CHILD and IZA)

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Abstract

Intergenerational mobility in income and education is affected by the influence of parents on children’s school choices. Our focus is on the role played by different school systems in reducing or magnifying the impact of parents on children’s school choices and therefore on intergenerational mobility in general. We compare two apparently similar educational systems, Italy and Germany, to see how the common feature of separate tracks at Secondary School level may produce different impacts on children choices. Using data from a cross-country survey (PISA 2003), we study the impact of parental education on track choice, showing that the greater flexibility of the Italian system (where parents are free to choose the type of track) translates into greater dependence from parental background. These effects are reinforced when moving to post-secondary education, where the aspiration to go to college is affected not only by the school type but also (in the case of Italy only) by parental education. We then move to country-specific data sets (ISTAT 2001 for Italy and GSOEP 2001 and 2002 for Germany) to study the impact of family background on postsecondary school choices: we find this impact is greatly reduced when we control for secondary school tracks. Overall, we estimate large asymmetries by gender, with women’s behavior more independent from family backgrounds than men’s behavior.

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Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 2876.

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Length: 65 pages
Date of creation: Jun 2007
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Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2876

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Related research
Keywords: secondary school tracks; education; intergenerational mobility;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics

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.:
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  2. Stephen V. Cameron & James J. Heckman, 2001. "The Dynamics of Educational Attainment for Black, Hispanic, and White Males," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 109(3), pages 455-499, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
  4. Stephen V. Cameron & Christopher Taber, 2004. "Estimation of Educational Borrowing Constraints Using Returns to Schooling," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(1), pages 132-182, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Christian Dustmann, 2004. "Parental background, secondary school track choice, and wages," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 56(2), pages 209-230, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Keane, Michael P & Wolpin, Kenneth I, 2001. "The Effect of Parental Transfers and Borrowing Constraints on Educational Attainment," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 42(4), pages 1051-1103, November.
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  19. Daniele Checchi, 1997. "Education and Intergenerational Mobility in Occupations," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 66(1), pages 136-144.
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  22. Acemoglu, Daron & Pischke, J. -S., 2001. "Changes in the wage structure, family income, and children's education," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(4-6), pages 890-904, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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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. Checchi, Daniele & Fiorio, Carlo V. & Leonardi, Marco, 2008. "Intergenerational Persistence in Educational Attainment in Italy," IZA Discussion Papers 3622, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  2. Bratti, Massimiliano & Checchi, Daniele & de Blasio, Guido, 2008. "Does the Expansion of Higher Education Increase the Equality of Educational Opportunities? Evidence from Italy," IZA Discussion Papers 3361, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Vito Peragine & Laura Serlenga, 2007. "Higher Education and Equality of Opportunity in Italy," IZA Discussion Papers 3163, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Carsten Ochsen, 2008. "Recommendation, Class Repeating, and Children's Ability: German School Tracking Experiences," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 96, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  5. Benjamin Balsmeier & Heiko Peters, 2008. "Family Background or the Characteristics of Children: What Determines High School Success in Germany?," SOEPpapers 138, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). [Downloadable!]
  6. Wolter Hassink & Hannah Kiiver, 2007. "Age-dependent Effects of Socio-economic Background on Educational Attainment - Evidence from Germany," Working Papers 07-26, Utrecht School of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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