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Parents, schools and human capital differences across countries
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Parents, schools and human capital differences across countries

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  • De Philippis, Marta
  • Rossi, Federico

Abstract

This paper studies the contribution of parental influence in accounting for cross-country gaps in human capital achievements. We argue that the cross-country variation in unobserved parental characteristics is at least as important as the one in commonly used observable proxies of parental socio-economic background. We infer this through an indirect empirical approach, based on the comparison of the school performance of second generation immigrants. We document that, within the same host country or even the same school, students whose parents come from high-scoring countries in the PISA test do better than their peers with similar socioeconomic backgrounds. Differential selection into emigration does not explain this finding. The result is larger when parents have little education and have recently emigrated, suggesting the importance of country-specific cultural traits that parents progressively lose as they integrate in the new host country, rather than of an intergenerational transmission of education quality. Unobserved parental characteristics account for about 15% of the cross-country variance in test scores, roughly doubling the overall contribution of parental influence.

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  • De Philippis, Marta & Rossi, Federico, 2019. "Parents, schools and human capital differences across countries," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102719, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:102719
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    Cited by:

    1. Rossi,Federico, 2018. "Human Capital and Macro-Economic Development : A Review of the Evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8650, The World Bank.
    2. Asadullah, M. Niaz & Perera, Liyanage Devangi H. & Xiao, Saizi, 2020. "Vietnam’s extraordinary performance in the PISA assessment: A cultural explanation of an education paradox," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 42(5), pages 913-932.
    3. Camarero Garcia, Sebastian, 2022. "Inequality of Educational Opportunities and the Role of Learning Intensity," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    4. Bonacini, Luca & Gallo, Giovanni & Scicchitano, Sergio, 2021. "Sometimes you cannot make it on your own. How household background influences chances of success in Italy," GLO Discussion Paper Series 832, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    5. Eric A Hanushek & Lavinia Kinneifo & Philipp Lergetporer & Ludger Woessmann, 2022. "Patience, Risk-Taking, and Human Capital Investment Across Countries," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(646), pages 2290-2307.
    6. Camarero Garcia, Sebastian, 2018. "Inequality of educational opportunities and the role of learning intensity: Evidence from a quasi-experiment in Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 18-021, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    7. Xiao Ma & Alejandro Nakab & Daniela Vidart, 2024. "Human Capital Investment and Development: The Role of On-the-Job Training," Journal of Political Economy Macroeconomics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(1), pages 107-148.
    8. Slichter, David & Taveras, Elisa & Monge, Daniela, 2021. "The Skills of Rich and Poor Country Workers," MPRA Paper 106050, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Paolo Martellini & Todd Schoellman & Jason Sockin, 2024. "The Global Distribution of College Graduate Quality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 132(2), pages 434-483.
    10. Hoang, Trung X. & Nguyen, Ha, 2023. "Multi-generational effects of school access in a developing country: Evidence from a mass education program in Vietnam," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity

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