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The Causal Effect of Age at Migration on Youth Educational Attainment

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  • Dominique Lemmermann
  • Regina T. Riphahn

Abstract

We investigate the causal effect of age at migration on subsequent educational attainment in the destination country. To identify the causal effect we compare the educational attainment of siblings at age 21, exploiting the fact that they typically migrate at different ages within a given family. We consider several education outcomes conditional on family fixed effects. We take advantage of long running and detailed data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, which entails an oversample of immigrants and provides information on language skills. We find significant effects of age at migration on educational attainment and a critical age of migration around age 6. The educational attainment of female immigrants responds more strongly to a high age at immigration than that of males. Also, language skills do not appear to be central for the causal connection between age at migration and educational attainment.

Suggested Citation

  • Dominique Lemmermann & Regina T. Riphahn, 2017. "The Causal Effect of Age at Migration on Youth Educational Attainment," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 908, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp908
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    Cited by:

    1. Marie C. Hull, 2023. "What divides the first and second generations? Family time of arrival and educational outcomes for immigrant youth," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 89(3), pages 754-787, January.
    2. Gorodzeisky, Anastasia & Feniger, Yariv & Ayalon, Hanna, 2023. "Child’s age at migration, high school course-taking and higher education," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    3. Nicole Black & Johannes S. Kunz, 2024. "The Intergenerational Effects of Language Proficiency on Child Health Outcomes: Evidence from Survey- and Census-matched Health Care Records," Papers 2024-11, Centre for Health Economics, Monash University.
    4. Aktaş Koray & Argentin Gianluca & Barbetta Gian Paolo & Colombo Luca V.A. & Barbieri Gianna, 2022. "High School Choices by Immigrant Students in Italy: Evidence from Administrative Data," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 22(3), pages 527-572, July.
    5. Fenoll, Ainhoa Aparicio, 2018. "English proficiency and mathematics test scores of immigrant children in the US," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 102-113.
    6. 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).
    7. Cristina Bratu & Matz Dahlberg & Madhinee Valeyatheepillay, 2021. "Age at Arrival and Residential Integration," CESifo Working Paper Series 9181, CESifo.
    8. Sander Gerritsen & Mark Kattenberg & Sonny Kuijpers, 2019. "The impact of age at arrival on education and mental health," CPB Discussion Paper 389, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    9. Björn NILSSON, 2019. "Education and migration: insights for policymakers," Working Paper 23ca9c54-061a-4d60-967c-f, Agence française de développement.
    10. repec:grz:wpsses:2021-07 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Sander Gerritsen & Mark Kattenberg & Sonny Kuijpers, 2019. "The impact of age at arrival on education and mental health," CPB Discussion Paper 389.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    12. Nathan I. Hoffmann, 2024. "Strangers in the Homeland? The Academic Performance of U.S.-Born Children of Return Migrants in Mexico," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(3), pages 1-25, June.
    13. Nicole Black & Johannes S. Kunz, 2019. "The Intergenerational Effects of Language Proficiency on Child Health Outcomes," Monash Economics Working Papers 05-19, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    14. Mohammed A. M. Usman & Huseyin Ozdeser & Behiye Çavuşoğlu & Umar Shuaibu Aliyu, 2022. "On the Sustainable Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Do Remittances, Human Capital Flight, and Brain Drain Matter?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-20, February.
    15. Thomas Gries & Margarete Redlin & Moonum Zehra, 2022. "Educational Assimilation of First-Generation and Second-Generation Immigrants in Germany," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 815-845, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Immigration; education; integration; school attainment; Germany; causal estimation; family fixed effect;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models

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