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Intergenerational mobility in education: Is Africa different?

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  • Théophile T. Azomahou
  • Eleni Yitbarek

Abstract

This study analyzes the intergenerational transmission of education in nine Sub‐Saharan African countries, using nationally representative household survey data on parents of adult individuals. It provides the levels and trends of intergenerational persistence of years of schooling over 50 years, and it also ranks the nine countries relative to other nations. There is a declining cohort trend in the intergenerational persistence of education, particularly after the 1960s. Nevertheless, the education of parents remains a strong determinant of the educational outcomes of children. The analysis also documents country heterogeneity (intergenerational educational mobility varies significantly across countries) and a marked gender effect: daughter's education attainment is more correlated with her parents' education than that of sons. From a policy perspective, our result points to the importance of targeted redistributive policies and the expansion of secondary education to improve mobility.

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  • Théophile T. Azomahou & Eleni Yitbarek, 2021. "Intergenerational mobility in education: Is Africa different?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(3), pages 503-523, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:39:y:2021:i:3:p:503-523
    DOI: 10.1111/coep.12495
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    Cited by:

    1. Emran, M. Shahe & Jiang, Hanchen & Shilpi, Forhad, 2021. "Is Gender Destiny? Gender Bias and Intergenerational Educational Mobility in India," MPRA Paper 106793, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Ahsan, Md. Nazmul & Emran, M. Shahe & Jiang, Hanchen & Han, Qingyang & Shilpi, Forhad, 2022. "Growing Up Together: Sibling Correlation, Parental Influence, and Intergenerational Educational Mobility in Developing Countries," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1123, Global Labor Organization (GLO), revised 2022.
    3. Raúl Claver & Raquel Ortega-Lapiedra, 2024. "Measuring Education Changes Between Generations: Evidence for 52 Developing Countries from 1870 to 2010," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 45(4), pages 965-983, December.
    4. Ali Compaoré & Roukiatou Nikièma & Rasmané Ouédraogo, 2022. "Foreign aid and intergenerational mobility in Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2022-139, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Asiedu, Elizabeth & Azomahou, Théophile T. & Getachew, Yoseph & Yitbarek, Eleni, 2021. "Share the love: Parental bias, women empowerment and intergenerational mobility," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 846-867.
    6. van der Weide, Roy & Lakner, Christoph & Mahler, Daniel Gerszon & Narayan, Ambar & Gupta, Rakesh, 2024. "Intergenerational mobility around the world: A new database," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    7. Ali Compaore & Roukiatou Nikièma & Rasmané Ouédraogo, 2021. "Foreign Aid and Intergenerational Mobility in Africa," Working Papers hal-03381658, HAL.
    8. Francesco Chelli & Mariateresa Ciommi & Francesca Mariani & Gloria Polinesi & Maria Cristina Recchioni & Giuseppe Ricciardo Lamonica & Luca Salvati, 2022. "A Story of Strengths and Weaknesses in Tertiary Education: Evaluating ‘Mobility’ and ‘Opportunities’ in OECD Countries with Composite Indicators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-19, December.
    9. Ahsan, Md Nazmul & Shilpi, Forhad & Emran, Shahe, 2022. "Unintended bottleneck and essential nonlinearity: Understanding the effects of public primary school expansion on intergenerational educational mobility," MPRA Paper 113047, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Delprato, Marcos, 2023. "Children and adolescents educational gender gaps across the lifecourse in sub-Saharan Africa: On the role of mothers' lack of empowerment as a barrier for girls' educational performance," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).

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