Patterns and determinants of intergenerational educational mobility: Evidence across countries

This study analyses the patterns and determinants of the intergenerational persistence of education attainment. Internationally comparable data are used by age cohort for parentsʼ and childrenʼs education levels for 30 countries. The intergenerational regression coefficients are estimated by explicitly considering the bias from the censored regressor, and they show that educational mobility has worsened over generations in most countries. However, the degree of change varies considerably across countries and over time. Country-cohort panel regressions are performed using the estimates of intergenerational educational mobility and covariates. The results show that intergenerational educational mobility tends to decrease with income inequality, inflation and credit constraints. However, it increases with per capita GDP and public expenditure on primary education relative to that on tertiary education.