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The Influence of Parental and Grandparental Education in the Transmission of Human Capital

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  • Hector Moreno

    (Paris School of Economics)

Abstract

This paper examines the influence of parental and grandparental education in the transmission of human capital. A natural experimental set-up, from a regional conflict that occurred in 1926 is exploited to instrument years of schooling of the grandparents' generation whereas local labour market indicators at adolescence serve as an instrument for the education of the parents' generation. Using a nationally representative Mexican survey that gathers detailed information on three generations, the paper shows that accounting for endogeneity reveals significantly more inter-generational mobility rather than ignoring it. The paper also documents greater persistence of family background in the older pair of parent-child links, i.e. grandparent-parent, than in the younger pair, i.e. parent-grandchildren. Results show that the direct influence of parental education on the grandchildren's education is so dominant that the impact of grand-parental education fades away once accounting for parental education.

Suggested Citation

  • Hector Moreno, 2021. "The Influence of Parental and Grandparental Education in the Transmission of Human Capital," Working Papers 588, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    • Handle: RePEc:inq:inqwps:ecineq2021-588
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    File URL: http://www.ecineq.org/milano/WP/ECINEQ2021-588.pdf
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    Cited by:

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    2. Jacobs, Babs & van der Velden, Rolf, 2021. "Exploring the uncharted waters of educational mobility: The role of key skills," Research Memorandum 016, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    3. Eric A. Hanushek & Babs Jacobs & Guido Schwerdt & Rolf van der Velden & Stan Vermeulen & Simon Wiederhold, 2021. "The Intergenerational Transmission of Cognitive Skills: An Investigation of the Causal Impact of Families on Student Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 29450, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Paolo Brunori & Francisco H.G. Ferreira & Guido Neidhöfer, 2023. "Inequality of opportunity and intergenerational persistence in Latin America," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2023-39, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    multigenerational; mobility; education; Mexico;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

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

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