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Educational policy and intergenerational income mobility: evidence from the Finnish comprehensive school reform

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  • Pekkarinen, Tuomas

    (IFAU - Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation)

  • Pekkala, Sari

    (Charles River Associates International)

  • Uusitalo, Roope

    (Helsinki School of Economics)

Abstract

This paper estimates the effect of a major education reform on the intergenerational income mobility in Finland. The Finnish comprehensive school reform of 1972-1977 replaced the old two-track school system with a uniform nine-year comprehensive school and significantly reduced the degree of heterogeneity in the Finnish primary and secondary education. We estimate the effect of this reform on the intergenerational income elasticity using a representative sample of males born during 1960-1966. The identification strategy relies on a difference-in-differences approach and exploits the fact that the reform was implemented gradually across country during a six-year period. The results indicate that the reform reduced the intergenerational income elasticity by about seven percentage points.

Suggested Citation

  • Pekkarinen, Tuomas & Pekkala, Sari & Uusitalo, Roope, 2006. "Educational policy and intergenerational income mobility: evidence from the Finnish comprehensive school reform," Working Paper Series 2006:13, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
  • Handle: RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2006_013
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    1. Gynnar elitklasser eliten?
      by Daniel Waldenström in Ekonomistas on 2009-06-09 09:16:21
    2. Ännu mer om grundskolans effekt på jämlikheten
      by bergh in Berghs Betraktelser on 2009-06-10 16:23:39

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Holmlund, Helena, 2007. "A Researcher's Guide to the Swedish Compulsory School Reform," Working Paper Series 9/2007, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    2. Ludger Wößmann, 2009. "International Evidence on School Tracking: A Review," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 7(1), pages 26-34, 04.
    3. Böckerman, Petri & Hämäläinen, Ulla & Uusitalo, Roope, 2009. "Labour market effects of the polytechnic education reform: The Finnish experience," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 672-681, December.
    4. Nina Guyon & Eric Maurin & Sandra McNally, 2012. "The Effect of Tracking Students by Ability into Different Schools: A Natural Experiment," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 47(3), pages 684-721.
    5. Sari Pekkala Kerr & Tuomas Pekkarinen & Roope Uusitalo, 2013. "School Tracking and Development of Cognitive Skills," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(3), pages 577-602.
    6. Volker Meier & Gabriela Schütz, 2007. "The Economics of Tracking and Non-Tracking," ifo Working Paper Series 50, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    7. Mahmut Ozer & Matjaž Perc, 2020. "Dreams and realities of school tracking and vocational education," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 6(1), pages 1-7, December.
    8. Beblav�, Miroslav & Thum, Anna-Elisabeth & Veselkova, Marcela, 2011. "Education Policy and Welfare Regimes in OECD Countries: Social Stratification and Equal Opportunity in Education," CEPS Papers 6497, Centre for European Policy Studies.
    9. Brian Nolan & Gosta Esping-Andersen & Christopher T. Whelan & Bertrand Maitre, 2010. "The Role of Social Institutions in Inter-Generational Mobility," Working Papers 201018, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    10. Stephen Machin & Kjell G. Salvanes & Panu Pelkonen, 2012. "Education And Mobility," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 10(2), pages 417-450, April.
    11. Gabriela Schütz & Heinrich W. Ursprung & Ludger Wößmann, 2008. "Education Policy and Equality of Opportunity," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(2), pages 279-308, May.
    12. Ludger Woessmann, 2009. "International Evidence on School Tracking: A Review," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 7(01), pages 26-34, April.
    13. Björklund, Anders & Jäntti, Markus & Lindquist, Matthew J., 2009. "Family background and income during the rise of the welfare state: Brother correlations in income for Swedish men born 1932-1968," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(5-6), pages 671-680, June.
    14. Hall, Caroline, 2009. "Does making upper secondary school more comprehensive affect dropout rates, educational attainment and earnings? Evidence from a Swedish pilot scheme," Working Paper Series 2009:9, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    15. Pascual, Marta, 2009. "Intergenerational income mobility: The transmission of socio-economic status in Spain," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 835-846, November.
    16. Elvana Hana & Arsena Gjipali, 2010. "What Determines Upper Secondary School Participation? - Intergenerational Effects Of Education Outcomes In Albania," Journal Articles, Center For Economic Analyses, pages 17-31, June.
    17. Torben M. Andersen & Giuseppe Bertola & John Driffill & Harold James & Hans-Werner Sinn & Jan-Egbert Sturm & Branko Uroševic, 2016. "Chapter 3: Tuning Secondary Education," EEAG Report on the European Economy, CESifo, vol. 0, pages 70-84, February.
    18. repec:ces:ifodic:v:7:y:2009:i:1:p:14567020 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Holmlund, Helena, 2006. "Intergenerational Mobility and Assortative Mating. Effects of an Educational Reform," Working Paper Series 4/2006, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    20. Orsetta Causa & Catherine Chapuis, 2009. "Equity in Student Achievement Across OECD Countries: An Investigation of the Role of Policies," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 708, OECD Publishing.
    21. Chenhong Peng & Paul Siu Fai Yip & Yik Wa Law, 2019. "Intergenerational Earnings Mobility and Returns to Education in Hong Kong: A Developed Society with High Economic Inequality," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 133-156, May.
    22. Wenya Cheng, 2017. "The impact of parental education on children’s outcomes in China," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 423-436, October.
    23. Anna Christina D'Addio, 2007. "Intergenerational Transmission of Disadvantage: Mobility or Immobility Across Generations?," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 52, OECD Publishing.
    24. Santavirta, Torsten, 2010. "How Large are the Effects from Temporary Changes in Family Environment: Evidence from a Child-evacuation Program during WWII," Working Paper Series 8/2010, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Intergenerational mobility; education; comprehensive school reform;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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