Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP1461
Authors: Ira N. Gang; Klaus F. Zimmermann
Abstract: The speed at which immigrants assimilate is the subject of debate. Human capital formation plays a major role in this discussion. This paper compares the educational attainment of second generation immigrants to those of natives in the same age cohort. Evidence using a large German data set suggests ethnicity does matter: the size of the ethnic network has a positive effect on educational attainment, and a clear pattern is exhibited between countries-of-origin and educational attainment even in the second generation. For the children of the foreign-born, parental schooling plays no role in making educational choices. For Germans, however, contrary to the general findings in the literature, there is a statistically significant difference in favour of father?s education over mother?s education.
Keywords: assimilation; ethnicity; migration; education; second generation migrants
JEL Codes: J15; J62
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Parental education (I24) | Educational outcomes of German children (I21) |
| Fathers' education (I24) | Educational outcomes of German children (I21) |
| Mothers' education (I24) | Educational outcomes of German children (I21) |
| Parental education (I24) | Educational attainment of second-generation immigrants (I21) |
| Size of ethnic network (Z13) | Educational attainment (I21) |
| Gender (J16) | Educational outcomes of female Turkish immigrants (I24) |