IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/mse/cesdoc/22005r.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Unequal access to higher education based on parental income: evidence from France

Author

Abstract

In this paper, we present new stylized facts on inequality of access to higher education by parental income in France. On averge, an increment of 10 percentiles in the parental income distribution is associated with a 5.6 percentage-point increase in the proportion of children accessing higher education. This overall degree of inequality is surprisingly close to that observed in the United States. We document how these income-based inequalities combine with those based on parental occupation or education. Finally, we assess the redistributivity of public spending on higher education and present a method to take account of the parents' tax contribution in measuring redistribution

Suggested Citation

  • Cécile Bonneau & Sébastien Grobon, 2022. "Unequal access to higher education based on parental income: evidence from France," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 22005r, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne, revised Nov 2022.
  • Handle: RePEc:mse:cesdoc:22005r
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:adr:anecst:y:2005:i:78:p:03 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Arnaud Chevalier & Colm Harmon & Vincent O’ Sullivan & Ian Walker, 2013. "The impact of parental income and education on the schooling of their children," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-22, December.
    3. Ben-Halima, B. & Chusseau, N. & Hellier, J., 2014. "Skill premia and intergenerational education mobility: The French case," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 50-64.
    4. Arnaud Lefranc & Alain Trannoy, 2005. "Intergenerational earnings mobility in France: Is France more mobile than the U.S.?," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 78, pages 57-77.
    5. Rasmus Landersø & James J. Heckman, 2017. "The Scandinavian Fantasy: Sources of Intergenerational Mobility in Denmark and the US," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 119(1), pages 178-230, January.
    6. Scott E. Carrell & Marianne E. Page & James E. West, 2010. "Sex and Science: How Professor Gender Perpetuates the Gender Gap," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(3), pages 1101-1144.
    7. Michela Carlana, 2019. "Implicit Stereotypes: Evidence from Teachers’ Gender Bias," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(3), pages 1163-1224.
    8. William R. Johnson, 2006. "Are Public Subsidies to Higher Education Regressive?," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 1(3), pages 288-315, June.
    9. repec:bla:revinw:v:39:y:1993:i:3:p:229-56 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman, 2018. "Distributional National Accounts: Methods and Estimates for the United States," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(2), pages 553-609.
    11. Katrine V. Løken & Magne Mogstad & Matthew Wiswall, 2012. "What Linear Estimators Miss: The Effects of Family Income on Child Outcomes," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(2), pages 1-35, April.
    12. Maurin, Eric, 2002. "The impact of parental income on early schooling transitions: A re-examination using data over three generations," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(3), pages 301-332, September.
    13. Alberto Alesina & Stefanie Stantcheva & Edoardo Teso, 2018. "Intergenerational Mobility and Preferences for Redistribution," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(2), pages 521-554, February.
    14. Oaxaca, Ronald, 1973. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 14(3), pages 693-709, October.
    15. Janet Currie & Enrico Moretti, 2003. "Mother's Education and the Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital: Evidence from College Openings," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(4), pages 1495-1532.
    16. Philippe Belley & Lance Lochner, 2007. "The Changing Role of Family Income and Ability in Determining Educational Achievement," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(1), pages 37-89.
    17. Randall K. Q. Akee & William E. Copeland & Gordon Keeler & Adrian Angold & E. Jane Costello, 2010. "Parents' Incomes and Children's Outcomes: A Quasi-experiment Using Transfer Payments from Casino Profits," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 86-115, January.
    18. Gustave Kenedi & Louis Sirugue, 2021. "The Anatomy of Intergenerational Income Mobility in France and its Spatial Variations," Working Papers halshs-03455282, HAL.
    19. Cécile Bonneau & Pauline Charrousset & Julien Grenet & Georgia Thebault, 2021. "Quelle démocratisation des grandes écoles depuis le milieu des années 2000 ?," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-03119054, HAL.
    20. Robert Haveman & Barbara Wolfe, 1995. "The Determinants of Children's Attainments: A Review of Methods and Findings," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(4), pages 1829-1878, December.
    21. Raj Chetty & John N Friedman & Emmanuel Saez & Nicholas Turner & Danny Yagan, 2020. "Income Segregation and Intergenerational Mobility Across Colleges in the United States," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(3), pages 1567-1633.
    22. Gustave Kenedi & Louis Sirugue, 2021. "The Anatomy of Intergenerational Income Mobility in France and its Spatial Variations," PSE Working Papers halshs-03455282, HAL.
    23. Shea, John, 2000. "Does parents' money matter?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(2), pages 155-184, August.
    24. W. Lee Hansen & Burton A. Weisbrod, 1969. "The Distribution of Costs and Direct Benefits of Public Higher Education: The Case of California," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 4(2), pages 176-191.
    25. Taubman, Paul, 1989. "Role of Parental Income in Educational Attainment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(2), pages 57-61, May.
    26. Raj Chetty & Nathaniel Hendren & Patrick Kline & Emmanuel Saez, 2014. "Where is the land of Opportunity? The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility in the United States," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(4), pages 1553-1623.
    27. Alan S. Blinder, 1973. "Wage Discrimination: Reduced Form and Structural Estimates," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 8(4), pages 436-455.
    28. David M. Blau, 1999. "The Effect Of Income On Child Development," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(2), pages 261-276, May.
    29. Timothy M. Smeeding & Peter Saunders & John Coder & Stephen Jenkins & Johan Fritzell & Aldi J. M. Hagenaars & Richard Hauser & Michael Wolfson, 1993. "Poverty, Tnequaltty, And Famtly Living Standards Impacts Across Seven Nations: The Effect Of Noncash Subsidies For Health, Education And Housing," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 39(3), pages 229-256, September.
    30. Fougère, Denis & Beffy, Magali & Maurel, Arnaud, 2013. "The Effect of College Employment on Graduation: Evidence from France," CEPR Discussion Papers 9565, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    31. Acemoglu, Daron & Pischke, J. -S., 2001. "Changes in the wage structure, family income, and children's education," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(4-6), pages 890-904, May.
    32. Bruce Sacerdote, 2007. "How Large are the Effects from Changes in Family Environment? A Study of Korean American Adoptees," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(1), pages 119-157.
    33. George Psacharopoulos & Harry Anthony Patrinos, 2018. "Returns to investment in education: a decennial review of the global literature," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(5), pages 445-458, September.
    34. Facundo Alvaredo & Lucas Chancel & Thomas Piketty & Gabriel Zucman, 2018. "Distributional National Accounts," Post-Print halshs-03342488, HAL.
    35. Solon, Gary, 1992. "Intergenerational Income Mobility in the United States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(3), pages 393-408, June.
    36. Løken, Katrine V., 2010. "Family income and children's education: Using the Norwegian oil boom as a natural experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 118-129, January.
    37. Hansen, W Lee, 1970. "Income Distribution Effects of Higher Education," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 60(2), pages 335-340, May.
    38. Becker, Gary S & Tomes, Nigel, 1979. "An Equilibrium Theory of the Distribution of Income and Intergenerational Mobility," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(6), pages 1153-1189, December.
    39. Fields, Gary S, 1975. "Higher Education and Income Distribution in a Less Developed Country," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 27(2), pages 245-259, July.
    40. Bernard Mendes France, 1987. "Les dépenses publiques d'éducation : les effets redistributifs n'éliminent pas toutes les inégalités," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 203(1), pages 37-48.
    41. Chevalier, Arnaud & Harmon, Colm & O'Sullivan, Vincent & Walker, Ian, 2013. "The Impact of Parental Income and Education on the Schooling of Children," Papers WP468, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    42. Joseph A. Pechman, 1970. "The Distributional Effects of Public Higher Education in California: A Review Article," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 5(3), pages 361-370.
    43. Clément Lemelin, 1992. "Short-Term Redistributive Effects of Public Financing of University Education in Quebec," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 18(2), pages 176-188, June.
    44. Jinjing Li, 2017. "Rate decomposition for aggregate data using Das Gupta’s method," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 17(2), pages 490-502, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kenedi, Gustave & Sirugue, Louis, 2023. "Intergenerational income mobility in France: A comparative and geographic analysis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    2. Camille Terrier & Rustamdjan Hakimov & Renke Schmacker, 2023. "Confiance en soi et choix d’orientation sur Parcoursup : Enseignements d’une intervention randomisée," Institut des Politiques Publiques halshs-04164914, HAL.
    3. Gustave Kenedi & Louis Sirugue, 2023. "La mobilité intergénérationnelle de revenus en France : une analyse comparative et géographique," Institut des Politiques Publiques halshs-04439127, HAL.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cécile Bonneau & Sébastien Grobon, 2022. "Parental Income and Higher Education Patterns: Evidence From France," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 22005rr, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne, revised Dec 2023.
    2. Naoi, Michio & Akabayashi, Hideo & Nakamura, Ryosuke & Nozaki, Kayo & Sano, Shinpei & Senoh, Wataru & Shikishima, Chizuru, 2021. "Causal effects of family income on educational investment and child outcomes: Evidence from a policy reform in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    3. George Bulman & Robert Fairlie & Sarena Goodman & Adam Isen, 2021. "Parental Resources and College Attendance: Evidence from Lottery Wins," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(4), pages 1201-1240, April.
    4. Zhu, Guozhong & Vural, Gulfer, 2013. "Inter-generational effect of parental time and its policy implications," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1833-1851.
    5. Cécile Bonneau & Sébastien Grobon, 2022. "Unequal Access to Higher Education Based on Parental Income: Evidence From France," Working Papers halshs-03573453, HAL.
    6. Andrew E. Clark & Conchita D'Ambrosio & Marta Barazzetta, 2021. "Childhood circumstances and young adulthood outcomes: The role of mothers' financial problems," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(2), pages 342-357, February.
    7. Kenedi, Gustave & Sirugue, Louis, 2023. "Intergenerational income mobility in France: A comparative and geographic analysis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    8. Clark, Andrew E. & D’Ambrosio, Conchita & Barrazzetta, Marta, 2019. "Childhood circumstances and young adult outcomes: the role of mothers' financial problems," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102630, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Arendt, Jacob Nielsen & Christensen, Mads Lybech & Hjorth-Trolle, Anders, 2021. "Maternal education and child health: Causal evidence from Denmark," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    10. Sandra E. Black & Paul J. Devereux & Katrine V. L�ken & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2014. "Care or Cash? The Effect of Child Care Subsidies on Student Performance," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 96(5), pages 824-837, December.
    11. Black, Sandra E. & Devereux, Paul J., 2011. "Recent Developments in Intergenerational Mobility," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 16, pages 1487-1541, Elsevier.
    12. Elisa Jácome & Ilyana Kuziemko & Suresh Naidu, 2021. "Mobility for All: Representative Intergenerational Mobility Estimates over the 20th Century," Working Papers 302, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    13. Bertrand Garbinti & Frédérique Savignac, 2020. "Accounting for Intergenerational Wealth Mobility in France over the 20th Century: Method and Estimations," Working papers 776, Banque de France.
    14. Daniela Del Boca & Christopher Flinn & Matthew Wiswall, 2014. "Household Choices and Child Development," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(1), pages 137-185.
    15. Philip Oreopoulos & Marianne Page & Ann Huff Stevens, 2008. "The Intergenerational Effects of Worker Displacement," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(3), pages 455-483, July.
    16. Marie Connolly & Catherine Haeck & Jean-William P. Laliberté, 2021. "Parental Education and the Rising Transmission of Income between Generations," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring Distribution and Mobility of Income and Wealth, pages 289-315, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Tang, Le & Sun, Shiyu & Yang, Weiguo, 2021. "Does government education expenditure boost intergenerational mobility? Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 13-22.
    18. Chalfin, Aaron & Deza, Monica, 2019. "The intergenerational effects of education on delinquency," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 553-571.
    19. Hellier, Joël, 2017. "Stratified higher education,social mobility at the top and efficiency: The case of the French ‘Grandes écoles’," MPRA Paper 76724, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Rasmus Landersø & James J. Heckman, 2017. "The Scandinavian Fantasy: Sources of Intergenerational Mobility in Denmark and the US," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 119(1), pages 178-230, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Higher education; Parental Income; Expenditures; Human Capital; Resource Allocation; France;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:mse:cesdoc:22005r. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Lucie Label (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cenp1fr.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.