Decline in Social Mobility: Unfulfilled Aspirations among Egypt's Educated Youth

Christine Binzel

No 6139, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper studies how the gradual suspension of an employment guarantee scheme for secondary and post-secondary graduates has affected intergenerational mobility across well-educated cohorts in Egypt. The empirical results support suggestive evidence in the Middle East of a decline in social mobility among the increasingly well-educated youth. The results further indicate that unequal opportunities are due to difficulties in attaining high-level occupations in the formal private sector for graduates from a lower socio-economic background, and that personal connections may play a decisive role. Thus, aside from credit market imperfections, labor market constraints may be important in explaining low social mobility.

Keywords: intergenerational mobility; Islamic revival; schooling; labor market (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J24 J62 O10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 53 pages
Date: 2011-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ara
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

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