Occupational Dualism and Intergenerational Educational Mobility in the Rural Economy : Evidence from China and India
This paper extends the Becker-Tomes model of intergenerational educational mobility to a rural economy characterized by farm-nonfarm occupational dualism and provides a comparative analysis of rural China and rural India. The model builds a micro-f...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/435421594655129550/Occupational-Dualism-and-Intergenerational-Educational-Mobility-in-the-Rural-Economy-Evidence-from-China-and-India http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34125 |
| Summary: | This paper extends the Becker-Tomes
model of intergenerational educational mobility to a rural
economy characterized by farm-nonfarm occupational dualism
and provides a comparative analysis of rural China and rural
India. The model builds a micro-foundation for the widely
used linear-in-levels estimating equation. Returns to
education for parents and productivity of financial
investment in children's education determine relative
mobility, as measured by the slope, while the intercept
depends, among other factors, on the degree of persistence
in nonfarm occupations. Unlike many existing studies based
on coresident samples, our estimates of intergenerational
mobiity do not suffer from truncation bias. The sons in
rural India faced lower educational mobility compared with
the sons in rural China in the 1970s to 1990s. To understand
the role of genetic inheritance, Altonji et al. (2005)
sensitivity analysis is combined with the evidence on
intergenerational correlation in cognitive ability in
economics and behavioral genetics literature. The observed
persistence can be due solely to genetic correlations in
China, but not in India. Fathers' nonfarm occupation
and education were complementary in determining a sons'
schooling in India, but separable in China. There is
evidence of emerging complementarity for the younger cohorts
in rural China. Structural change in favor of the nonfarm
sector contributed to educational inequality in rural India.
Evidence from supplementary data on economic mechanisms
suggests that the model provides plausible explanations for
the contrasting roles of occupational dualism in
intergenerational educational mobility in rural India and
rural China. |
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