IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/rut/rutres/199614.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Is Child Like Parent? Educational Attainment and Ethnic Origin

Author

Listed:
  • Ira N. Gang

    (Rutgers University)

  • Klaus F. Zimmermann

    (IZA, Bonn University and CEPR, London)

Abstract

The speed at which immigrants assimilate is the subject of debate. Human capital formation plays a major role in this discussion. This paper compares the educational attainment of second generation immigrants to those of natives in the same age cohort. Evidence using a large German data set suggests ethnicity does matter: the size of the ethnic network has a positive effect on educational attainment, and a clear pattern is exhibited between countries-of-origin and educational attainment even in the second generation. For the children of the foreign-born, parental schooling plays no role in making educational choices. However, for Germans, contrary to the general findings in the literature, there is a statistically significant difference in favor of father´s education over mother's education.

Suggested Citation

  • Ira N. Gang & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 1999. "Is Child Like Parent? Educational Attainment and Ethnic Origin," Departmental Working Papers 199614, Rutgers University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:rut:rutres:199614
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sas.rutgers.edu/virtual/snde/wp/1996-14.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chiswick, Barry R. & Miller, Paul W., 1994. "The determinants of post-immigration investments in education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 163-177, June.
    2. Stapleton, David C & Young, Douglas J, 1988. "Educational Attainment and Cohort Size," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(3), pages 330-361, July.
    3. Ira N. Gang & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2000. "Is Child like Parent? Educational Attainment and Ethnic Origin," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 35(3), pages 550-569.
    4. George J. Borjas, 2021. "Ethnic Capital And Intergenerational Mobility," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foundational Essays in Immigration Economics, chapter 6, pages 107-134, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    5. Pradhan, Menno, 1998. "Enrolment and Delayed Enrolment of Secondary School Age Children in Indonesia," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 60(4), pages 413-430, November.
    6. John P. Haisken-DeNew & Felix Büchel & Gert G. Wagner, 1997. "Assimilation and Other Determinants of School Attainment in Germany: Do Immigrant Children Perform as Well as Germans?," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 66(1), pages 169-179.
    7. Klaus F. Zimmermann, 1995. "Tackling the European Migration Problems," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(2), pages 45-62, Spring.
    8. Glomm, Gerhard, 1997. "Parental choice of human capital investment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 99-114, June.
    9. Joshua D. Angrist & Alan B. Krueger, 1990. "The Effect of Age at School Entry on Educational Attainment: An Application of Instrumental Variables with Moments from Two Samples," NBER Working Papers 3571, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Beller, Andrea H & Chung, Seung Sin, 1992. "Family Structure and Educational Attainment of Children: Effects of Remarriage," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 5(1), pages 39-59, February.
    11. Melissa Binder, 1998. "Family background, gender and schooling in Mexico," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(2), pages 54-71.
    12. Barry R. Chiswick, 1988. "Differences in Education and Earnings Across Racial and Ethnic Groups: Tastes, Discrimination, and Investments in Child Quality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 103(3), pages 571-597.
    13. Sherrie A. Kossoudji, 1989. "Immigrant Worker Assimilation: Is It a Labor Market Phenomenon?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 24(3), pages 494-527.
    14. repec:bla:obuest:v:60:y:1998:i:4:p:413-30:a is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Gertler, Paul & Glewwe, Paul, 1992. "The Willingness to Pay for Education for Daughters in Contrast to Sons: Evidence from Rural Peru," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 6(1), pages 171-188, January.
    16. Menno Pradhan, 1998. "Enrolment and Delayed Enrolment of Secondary School Age Children in Indonesia," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 60(4), pages 413-430, November.
    17. Robert Haveman & Barbara Wolfe, 1995. "The Determinants of Children's Attainments: A Review of Methods and Findings," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(4), pages 1829-1878, December.
    18. Ira N. Gang, 1997. "Schooling, Parents and Country," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 66(1), pages 180-186.
    19. Joshua D. Angrist & Alan B. Keueger, 1991. "Does Compulsory School Attendance Affect Schooling and Earnings?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(4), pages 979-1014.
    20. Paul Glewwe, 1999. "Why Does Mother's Schooling Raise Child Health in Developing Countries? Evidence from Morocco," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 34(1), pages 124-159.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jens Ruhose, 2013. "Bildungsleistungen von Migranten und deren Determinanten – Teil II: Primar-, Sekundar- und Tertiärbereich," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 66(10), pages 24-38, May.
    2. Crystal Zhan, 2017. "Institutions, social norms, and educational attainment," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 22-44, January.
    3. Ira N. Gang, 1996. "Who Matters Most? The Effect of Parent's Schooling on Children's Schooling," Departmental Working Papers 199613, Rutgers University, Department of Economics.
    4. Riphahn Regina T., 2005. "Are there Diverging Time Trends in the Educational Attainment of Nationals and Second Generation Immigrants? / Unterscheiden sich die Trends in der Entwicklung des Bildungserfolges von Einheimischen u," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 225(3), pages 69-90, June.
    5. Buly Cardak & James Ted McDonald, 2004. "Neighbourhood effects, preference heterogeneity and immigrant educational attainment," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(6), pages 559-572.
    6. van Ours, J.C. & Veenman, J.M.C., 2001. "The Educational Attainment of Second Generation Immigrants in the Netherlands," Other publications TiSEM c6481bfa-a679-4a48-9d2a-3, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    7. Simone Schüller, 2015. "Parental ethnic identity and educational attainment of second-generation immigrants," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 28(4), pages 965-1004, October.
    8. Bönke Timm & Neidhöfer Guido, 2018. "Parental Background Matters: Intergenerational Mobility and Assimilation of Italian Immigrants in Germany," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 19(1), pages 1-31, February.
    9. Dustmann, Christian & Glitz, Albrecht, 2011. "Migration and Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 327-439, Elsevier.
    10. Riphahn, Regina, 2001. "Dissimilation? The Educational Attainment of Second Generation Immigrants," CEPR Discussion Papers 2903, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Jan C. van Ours & Justus Veenman, 2003. "The educational attainment of second-generation immigrants in The Netherland," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 16(4), pages 739-753, November.
    12. Kucera, Miroslav, 2008. "The Educational Attainment of Second Generation Immigrants in Canada: Analysis based on the General Social Survey," MPRA Paper 14036, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Schurer, Stefanie, 2008. "Labour Market Outcomes of Second Generation Immigrants: How Heterogeneous Are They Really?," Ruhr Economic Papers 57, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    14. Ali Tasiran & Kerem Tezic, 2006. "Parental Income and Continuing Education of Second Generation Immigrants in Sweden," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(4), pages 491-514.
    15. Anna-Elisabeth Thum, 2013. "Ethnic Identity and Educational Outcomes of German Immigrants and Their Children," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 622, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    16. Anna Christina D'Addio, 2007. "Intergenerational Transmission of Disadvantage: Mobility or Immobility Across Generations?," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 52, OECD Publishing.
    17. Fleury, Nicolas, 2013. "How large second-generation migrants and natives differ in terms of human capital accumulation and why? Empirical evidence for France," MPRA Paper 50682, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Gabin Langevin & David Masclet & Fabien Moizeau & Emmanuel Peterle, 2017. "Ethnic gaps in educational attainment and labor-market outcomes: evidence from France," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 84-111, January.
    19. Philipp Bauer & Regina Riphahn, 2006. "Education and its intergenerational transmission: country of origin-specific evidence for natives and immigrants from Switzerland," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 5(2), pages 89-110, August.
    20. Sweetman, A. & van Ours, J.C., 2014. "Immigration : What About the Children and Grandchildren?," Other publications TiSEM cc9b5625-5c92-41b6-a1a4-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    assimilation; education; ethnicity; migration; second generation migrants;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rut:rutres:199614. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/derutus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.