Can Compulsory Education Law Improve Intergenerational Mobility? Read
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Title | Can Compulsory Education Law Improve Intergenerational Mobility?
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Author | Chen Binkai,Zhang Shujuan and Shen Guangjun |
Organization | Central University of Finance and Economics |
Email | chenbinkai@cufe.edu.cn;zhangshujuan0689@163.com;hnshgj@126.com |
Key Words | Intergenerational Mobility; Education Mobility; Income Mobility; Compulsory Education Law; Return to Education |
Abstract | Social mobility affects national stability and long-term growth; equality of opportunity is crucial for sound development of society. Using data from the Chinese Household Income Project Survey 2013 and National Population Survey 2005, this paper employs the temporal and geographical variations in the Compulsory Education Law (CEL) implementation as an exogenous shock to identify how education policy impacts intergenerational mobility. We find that CEL indeed improves the intergenerational education mobility significantly, because kids whose parents are low-educated, with low-level jobs and earning less benefit more from the policy. However, CEL doesn’t improve intergenerational income mobility because people from low socio-economic status households earn less return to schooling in labor market. This study has significant policy implications: while the extension of compulsory education is important to improve intergenerational mobility, the quality of compulsory education also matters for equality of opportunity. |
Serial Number | WP1287 |
Time | 2018-08-01 |
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