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Institutions, social norms, and educational attainment

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  • Crystal Zhan

Abstract

Informal institutions are defined as socially shared rules that guide individuals' behaviors outside of officially sanctioned channels. This paper investigates the link between individual educational attainment and education-related informal institutions by examining second-generation immigrants in the USA. I measure the education-related informal institutions by average educational attainment among the adult population conditional on per capita GDP in the second generation's country of ancestry. Empirical analysis shows that given similar family background, market, and institutions, higher average educational attainment in the origin country predicts more years of individual schooling; this relationship is stronger among those with less educated parents. These findings are robust to various methods of controlling for unobserved human capital, alternative sample criteria, and alternative measures of informal institutions (JEL I20, J15, Z10).

Suggested Citation

  • Crystal Zhan, 2017. "Institutions, social norms, and educational attainment," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 22-44, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:edecon:v:25:y:2017:i:1:p:22-44
    DOI: 10.1080/09645292.2016.1158788
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    Cited by:

    1. Jones, Daniel B. & Zhan, Crystal, 2020. "Ethnic diversity and citizens’ support for local public good provision: Evidence from California parcel tax elections," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 108-130.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General

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