Intergenerational Transmission of Education and Mediating Channels: Evidence from a Compulsory Schooling Reform in Germany
利用德国1946-1969年间的义务教育改革，发现母亲多上一年学能显著提高儿子的教育水平，但对其他性别组合无影响，且教育价值观是重要中介渠道。
Abstract In this paper, I estimate the causal effect that an additional year of schooling for parents has on their children's education, by exploiting a compulsory schooling reform that was implemented in all West German states between 1946 and 1969. Although previous research indicates that the reform had no effect on earnings, I find that an additional year of schooling for women strongly affects the education of their sons. There is no effect for the other parent–child gender pairs. I investigate numerous channels that might mediate the positive effect of the education of mothers. Most importantly, I find that individuals with more schooling value their children's educational success as more important.