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Exams, districts, and intergenerational mobility: Evidence from South Korea

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  • Lee, Yong Suk

Abstract

This paper examines how student assignment rules impact intergenerational mobility. High school admission had traditionally been exam based in South Korea. However, between 1974 and 1980 the central government shifted several cities to a school district based admission system. I estimate the impact of this reform on the intergenerational income elasticity. Results indicate that the reform increased the intergenerational income elasticity from 0.15 to 0.31. Furthermore, I find that district assignment increases the impact of parental income on migration to reform cities. The probability of migration associated with a 10% increase in parental income increased by 1.7 percentage points after the reform. In sum, I find that the shift from a merit to a location based student assignment rule decreases intergenerational mobility and promotes selective migration by higher income households.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee, Yong Suk, 2014. "Exams, districts, and intergenerational mobility: Evidence from South Korea," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 62-71.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:29:y:2014:i:c:p:62-71
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2014.05.006
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ahn, Taehyun & Goh, Young-Geun, 2021. "The long-term influences of ability mixing on soft skills," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 367-386.
    2. Lee, Yong Suk, 2015. "School districting and the origins of residential land price inequality," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 1-17.
    3. Dang, Thang, 2015. "Intergenerational mobility of earnings and income among sons and daughters in Vietnam," MPRA Paper 75357, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Dustmann, Christian & Ku, Hyejin & Kwak, Do Won, 2018. "Why Are Single-Sex Schools Successful?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 79-99.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Intergenerational mobility; Merit based admission; School districts; Migration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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