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

Emran, M. Shahe ; Ferreira, Francisco ; Jiang, Yajing ; Sun, Yan

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: EDUCATIONAL MOBILITY;    RURAL ECONOMY;    OCCUPATIONAL DUALISM;    FARM-NONFARM COMPLEMENTARITY;    CORESIDENCY BIAS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-9316
RP-ID  :  WPS9316

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper extends the Becker-Tomesmodel of intergenerational educational mobility to a ruraleconomy characterized by farm-nonfarm occupational dualismand provides a comparative analysis of rural China and ruralIndia. The model builds a micro-foundation for the widelyused linear-in-levels estimating equation. Returns toeducation for parents and productivity of financialinvestment in children's education determine relativemobility, as measured by the slope, while the interceptdepends, among other factors, on the degree of persistencein nonfarm occupations. Unlike many existing studies basedon coresident samples, our estimates of intergenerationalmobiity do not suffer from truncation bias. The sons inrural India faced lower educational mobility compared withthe sons in rural China in the 1970s to 1990s. To understandthe role of genetic inheritance, Altonji et al. (2005)sensitivity analysis is combined with the evidence onintergenerational correlation in cognitive ability ineconomics and behavioral genetics literature. The observedpersistence can be due solely to genetic correlations inChina, but not in India. Fathers' nonfarm occupationand education were complementary in determining a sons'schooling in India, but separable in China. There isevidence of emerging complementarity for the younger cohortsin rural China. Structural change in favor of the nonfarmsector contributed to educational inequality in rural India.Evidence from supplementary data on economic mechanismssuggests that the model provides plausible explanations forthe contrasting roles of occupational dualism inintergenerational educational mobility in rural India andrural China.