Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP16355
Authors: Sebastian Findeisen; Dominik Sachs; Paul Schuele; Lukas Henkel; Majed Dodin
Abstract: We characterize intergenerational social mobility in Germany using census dataon the educational attainment of 526,000 children and their parents’ earnings. Ourmeasure of educational attainment is the A-Level degree, a requirement for accessto university and the most important qualification in the German education system.On average, a 10 percentile increase in the parental income rank is associatedwith a 5.2 percentage point increase in the probability to obtain an A-Level. Thisparental income gradient has not changed for the birth cohorts from 1980 to 1996,despite a large-scale policy of expanding upper secondary education in Germany.At the regional level, there exists substantial variation in mobility estimates. Placeeffects, rather than sorting of households into different regions, seem to accountfor most of these geographical differences. Mobile regions are, among other aspects,characterized by high school quality and enhanced possibilities to obtain anA-Level degree in vocational schools.
Keywords: Intergenerational Mobility; Educational Attainment; Local Labor Markets
JEL Codes: I24; J62; R23
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Parental income rank (D31) | Probability of obtaining A-level degree (C29) |
| Parental income rank (D31) | Educational outcomes of children (I21) |
| Geographical differences in social mobility (J62) | Probability of obtaining A-level degree (C29) |
| Household characteristics (D19) | Mobility differences (J62) |
| Place effects (C33) | Educational opportunities and outcomes (I24) |