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Tracking and the intergenerational transmission of education: Evidence from a natural experiment

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  • Lange, Simon
  • von Werder, Marten

Abstract

Proponents of tracking argue that the creation of more homogeneous classes increases efficiency while opponents point out that tracking aggravates initial differences between students. We estimate the effects on the intergenerational transmission of education of a reform that delayed tracking by two years in one of Germany’s federal states. We argue that while the reform had no effect on educational outcomes on average, it increased educational attainment among men with uneducated parents and decreased attainment among men with educated parents. We also present some suggestive evidence that the reform improved the selection of boys into secondary tracks.

Suggested Citation

  • Lange, Simon & von Werder, Marten, 2017. "Tracking and the intergenerational transmission of education: Evidence from a natural experiment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 59-78.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:61:y:2017:i:c:p:59-78
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2017.10.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Tuomas Pekkarinen, 2018. "School tracking and intergenerational social mobility," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 1-56, December.
    2. Dominique Sulzmaier, 2020. "The causal effect of early tracking in German schools on the intergenerational transmission of education," Working Papers 187, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    3. Canaan, Serena, 2020. "The long-run effects of reducing early school tracking," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    4. O.A. Maximova & V.A. Belyaev & O.V. Laukart-Gorbacheva & I.V. Larionova, 2018. "Intergenerational Discourse on the Problems of Russian Education and Creation of Bilingual Environment," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4), pages 805-817.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tracking; Educational institutions; Educational inequality; Equality of opportunity; Intergenerational mobility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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