Why the Apple Doesn't Fall Far: Understanding Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital

Sandra Black, Paul Devereux and Kjell G Salvanes

No 926, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Parents with higher education levels have children with higher education levels. However, is this because parental education actually changes the outcomes of children, suggesting an important spillover of education policies, or is it merely that more able individuals who have higher education also have more able children? This paper proposes to answer this question by using a unique dataset from Norway. Using the reform of the education system that was implemented in different municipalities at different times in the 1960s as an instrument for parental education, we find little evidence of a causal relationship between parents’ education and children’s education, despite significant OLS relationships. We find 2SLS estimates that are consistently lower than the OLS estimates with the only statistically significant effect being a positive relationship between mother's education and son's education. These findings suggest that the high correlations between parents’ and children’s education are due primarily to family characteristics and inherited ability and not education spillovers.

Keywords: educational reform; intergenerational mobility; education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 J13 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 50 pages
Date: 2003-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-lab
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (90)

Published - published in: American Economic Review, 2005, 95 (1), 437-449

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https://docs.iza.org/dp926.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Why the Apple Doesn't Fall Far: Understanding Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital (2005)
Working Paper: Why the apple doesn't fall far: understanding intergenerational transmission of human capital (2005)
Working Paper: Why the apple doesn't fall far: understanding intergenerational transmission of human capital (2004)
Working Paper: Why the apple doesn't fall far: understanding intergenerational transmission of human capital (2003)
Working Paper: Why the apple doesn't fall far: understanding intergenerational transmission of human capital (2003)
Working Paper: Why the Apple Doesn't Fall Far: Understanding Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital (2003)
Working Paper: Why the apple doesn't fall far: understanding intergenerational transmission of human capital (2003)
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