From past to present: ancestry and student achievement in Brazil

Daniel Lopes (), Geraldo Silva Filho () and Leonardo Monasterio ()
Additional contact information
Daniel Lopes: CNI
Geraldo Silva Filho: Ministry of Planning and Budget
Leonardo Monasterio: Institute for Applied Economic Research-IPEA

Empirical Economics, 2025, vol. 68, issue 1, No 4, 165-212

Abstract: Abstract This paper estimates the impact of family ancestry on the educational outcomes of a cohort of Brazilian students. Based on longitudinal data with student identification, we apply an algorithm of surname classification that assigns the student, based on the surnames of his/her parents and grandparents, to one of the following ancestry groups: Iberian, Japanese, Italian, German, Eastern European and Syrian-Lebanese. Our identification strategy relies on the epidemiological approach, controlling for individual trajectory since birth and the persistence of local institutions established during the Era of Mass Immigration to Brazil in the 19th and 20th centuries. We show that, despite slight or absent differences in preschool attendance rate, students with non-Iberian ancestry obtain statistically and substantively higher promotion rates and scores on 3rd and 5th grade nationwide standardized tests.

Keywords: Migration; Education; Ancestry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 I2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s00181-024-02638-4

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