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Community influence as an explanatory factor why Roma children get little schooling

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  • Stark, Oded
  • Berlinschi, Ruxanda

Abstract

Parents who experience poverty and who want to provide their children with an escape route can be expected to encourage and support their progeny’s education. The evidence that Roma parents behave differently is unsettling. In this paper we test empirically an explanation for that behavior. The explanation is based on a theory (Stark et al. 2018) that can be “borrowed” to rationalize the enforcement of norms of little formal education in underprivileged communities. An analysis of survey data collected in Roma communities in four Central and Eastern European countries lends support to the explanation. The analysis reveals a strong negative correlation between the influence of the Roma community on an individual member’s life and the importance accorded by the individual to formal schooling for children. The correlation is robust to controlling for standard determinants of attitudes towards schooling, such as poverty, unemployment, labor market discrimination, and parents’ educational attainment. The analysis suggests that policy interventions aiming to increase the formal education of Roma children need to reckon with the influence of Roma community norms on individual choices.

Suggested Citation

  • Stark, Oded & Berlinschi, Ruxanda, 2021. "Community influence as an explanatory factor why Roma children get little schooling," Discussion Papers 308951, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:ubzefd:308951
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.308951
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Stark, Oded & Jakubek, Marcin & Szczygielski, Krzysztof, 2018. "Community cohesion and assimilation equilibria," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 79-88.
    2. Niall O'Higgins & Andrey Ivanov, 2006. "Education and Employment Opportunities for the Roma," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 48(1), pages 6-19, March.
    3. Leonardo Bursztyn & Robert Jensen, 2015. "How Does Peer Pressure Affect Educational Investments?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(3), pages 1329-1367.
    4. George A. Akerlof, 1997. "Social Distance and Social Decisions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(5), pages 1005-1028, September.
    5. Roland G. Fryer Jr., 2007. "A Model of Social Interactions and Endogenous Poverty Traps," Rationality and Society, , vol. 19(3), pages 335-366, August.
    6. Fryer, Roland, 2007. "A Model of Social Interactions and Endogenous Poverty Traps," Scholarly Articles 2958480, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    7. Peter Leeson, 2013. "Gypsy law," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 155(3), pages 273-292, June.
    8. Dena Ringold & Mitchell A. Orenstein & Erika Wilkens, 2005. "Roma in an Expanding Europe : Breaking the Poverty Cycle," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 14869.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Community/Rural/Urban Development; Food Security and Poverty; Labor and Human Capital;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J70 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - General
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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