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Occupational Dualism and Intergenerational Educational Mobility in the Rural Economy: Evidence from China and India

Author

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  • M. Shahe Emran

    (Columbia University)

  • Francisco Ferreira

    (London School of Economics)

  • Yajing Jiang

    (Charles River Associates)

  • Yan Sun

    (World Bank)

Abstract

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 mobility 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) biprobit 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. Father’s nonfarm occupation was complementary to his education 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.

Suggested Citation

  • M. Shahe Emran & Francisco Ferreira & Yajing Jiang & Yan Sun, 2020. "Occupational Dualism and Intergenerational Educational Mobility in the Rural Economy: Evidence from China and India," Working Papers 555, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    • Handle: RePEc:inq:inqwps:ecineq2020-555
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    2. Olivier Bargain & Maria Lo Bue & Francesco Palmisano, 2022. "Dynastic Measures of Intergenerational Mobility," Working Papers hal-03896551, HAL.
    3. Jiawei Wu & Guillaume Marois, 2024. "Education Policies and Intergenerational Educational Mobility in China: New Evidence for the 1986–95 Birth Cohort," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(3), pages 1-12, June.
    4. Olivier Bargain & Maria C. Lo Bue & Flaviana Palmisano, 2021. "Dynastic measures of inter-generational mobility with empirical evidence from Indonesia," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-70, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Gu, Xiang & Hua, Sheng & McKenzie, Tom & Zheng, Yanqiao, 2022. "Like father, like son? Parental input, access to higher education, and social mobility in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Educational Mobility; Rural Economy; Occupational Dualism; Farm-Nonfarm; Complementarity; Coresidency Bias; China; India.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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