Full Citation
Title: Does Educational Equality Increase Mobility? Exploiting U.S. Compulsory Schooling Laws 1850 -1930
Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis
Publication Year: 2012
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Abstract: Mobility research is largely descriptive and has not established a causal role of education. Further, the mechanism linking education and occupations is debated. If education increases attainment through human capital, expanding access should increase intergenerational mobility. If education is a status marker, expansion could dilute its value and yield no effect on mobility. Using IPUMS Linked Representative Samples (individuals in the 1850-1930 censuses linked to their record in the 100% 1880 census), I exploit state differences in the timing of early compulsory schooling laws, which increased class equality at an important level of education attendance. Using a regression discontinuity approach, I estimate an intent-to-treat effect (to capture unintended spillover effects) of equalization on intergenerational occupational mobility using both continuous and categorical measures of class. Results, from analysis of both individuals and sibling pairs, suggest that expanding educational access slightly reduced mobility. However, findings suggest a nonlinear relationship. In both individual and sib-difference analyses, the first cohorts after the compulsory law experienced reduced mobility, while later cohorts saw greater mobility. Equalizing access to education may initially amplify inequality, but later reduce it after all of the secondary changes. While most work examines the marginal impact of schooling, this research approximates a general equilibrium estimate, telling a more complicated story. Public school funding and historical documents suggest the nonlinear pattern is due to institutional lag. Schools were unprepared for the policy change and quality for lower class students initially declined.
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Authors: Rauscher, Emily
Institution: New York University
Department: Sociology
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Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
Publisher Location: New York, NY
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Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Education, Other
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