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The Intergenerational Transmission of Schooling among the Education-Rationed

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  • Jorge M. Agüero
  • Maithili Ramachandran

Abstract

We estimate the intergenerational transmission of schooling in a country where the majority of the population was rationed in its access to education. By eliminating apartheid-style policies against blacks, the 1980 education reforms in Zimbabwe swiftly tripled the transition rate to secondary schools. Using a fuzzy regression discontinuity design, we find a robust intergenerational transmission. A one-year increase in the schooling of the mother raises her child’s attainment by 0.073 years; the corresponding father-to-child spillover is 0.092 years. Choices in the marriage and labor markets mediate the size of these schooling transmissions. Several smoothness and placebo tests validate our design.

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  • Jorge M. Agüero & Maithili Ramachandran, 2020. "The Intergenerational Transmission of Schooling among the Education-Rationed," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 55(2), pages 504-538.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:55:y:2020:i:2:p:504-538
    Note: DOI: 10.3368/jhr.55.2.0816.8143R
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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