APPLE DOESN’T FALL FAR: INTERGENERATIONAL EDUCATION MOBILITY IN TURKEY

Abstract

This study presents an in‐depth review of the literature on intergenerational education mobility. The issues regarding consistent estimation of mobility coefficients as well the proposed solutions are elaborately discussed. In the light of the discussions, the strength of the intergenerational schooling association in Turkey is analyzed for father‐son and father‐daughter samples separately using a pooled sample of pairs living in the same household in any of the years between 2003 and 2011. The results suggest large persistence in intergenerational schooling—paternal and maternal correlation coefficients are 0.56 and 0.59 for sons, 0.63 and 0.73 for daughters—regardless of the gender of the child. The large mobility correlations may ask for the government to intervene in breaking the harmful schooling link across generations. To cite this document: Duman, E. (2021). T Apple Doesn’t Fall Far: Intergenerational Education Mobility in Turkey. BILTURK, The Journal of Economics and Related Studies, 3(2), 51‐65.doi: This study presents an in‐depth review of the literature on intergenerational education mobility. The issues regarding consistent estimation of mobility coefficients as well the proposed solutions are elaborately discussed. In the light of the discussions, the strength of the intergenerational schooling association in Turkey is analyzed for father‐son and father‐daughter samples separately. Pooled cross‐sections of Household Budget Surveys (from 2003 to 2011) are used to create the sample of father‐child pairs that live in the same household. For both samples three specifications are estimated: i) child’s schooling is regressed on father’s schooling, ii) child’s schooling is regressed on mother’s schooling, and iii) child’s schooling is regressed on both parents’ schooling. Each specification includes controls for cohort effects which may confound the intergenerational schooling association. The results suggest large persistence in intergenerational schooling regardless of gender of the child which compares to the national correlations found by Aydemir and Yazici (2019). A comparison of the results with mobility correlations from a large set of countries in Hertz et al. (2008) implies that educational attainment is less mobile across two generations in Turkey than most of the countries in their sample. The larger persistence in daughters sample may reflect segregation in parental attitudes towards their children’s schooling based on the gender of the child. There may be large regional disparities in intergenerational schooling association in Turkey due to regional differences in social norms and attitudes towards acquiring schooling. Further work may address the presence and causes of regional disparities in intergenerational education mobility as well the drivers of national persistence in intergenerational schooling. The national correlations found in this study may require the government to intervene in breaking the harmful schooling link across generations by providing equality of opportunity . 2 .