Educational Inequality*

Joanne Blanden, Matthias Doepke and Jan Stuhler

No 29979, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This chapter provides new evidence on educational inequality and reviews the literature on the causes and consequences of unequal education. We document large achievement gaps between children from different socio-economic backgrounds, show how patterns of educational inequality vary across countries, time, and generations, and establish a link between educational inequality and social mobility. We interpret this evidence from the perspective of economic models of skill acquisition and investment in human capital. The models account for different channels underlying unequal education and highlight how endogenous responses in parents' and children's educational investments generate a close link between economic inequality and educational inequality. Given concerns over the extended school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic, we also summarize early evidence on the impact of the pandemic on children's education and on possible long-run repercussions for educational inequality.

JEL-codes: I21 I24 J62 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-lab and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Educational Inequality (2022)
Working Paper: Education inequality (2022)
Working Paper: Educational Inequality (2022)
Working Paper: Education inequality (2022)
Working Paper: Educational Inequality (2022)
Working Paper: Educational Inequality (2022)
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