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PolicyResearchWorkingPaper11056

DoesSocialMobilityAffectEconomicDevelopment?Cross-CountryAnalysisUsingDifferentMobilityMeasures

IvánTorre

MichaelLokshin

JamesFoster

WORLDBANKGROUP

EuropeandCentralAsiaRegionOfficeoftheChiefEconomist

February2025

PolicyResearchWorkingPaper11056

Abstract

Thispaperanalyzestherelationshipbetweenintergenera-tionaleducationalmobilityandlong-termgrowthacrosstheworldusingdifferentmobilitymeasures,comparingabsolutemobilityindicatorswithrelativemobilityindica-tors.Theanalysisiscarriedoutacrossapanelof68countriesover2000–20.Theresultsindicatethatupwardmobilityinhighereducationispositivelyassociatedwithgrossdomestic

productpercapitainEuropeandCentralAsia,butrelativemobilityindicatorsareuncorrelatedwithcountryincome.InLatinAmerica,higherrelativemobilityisassociatedwithlowerincome,andhigherabsolutemobilityisassociatedwithhigherincome.Theremainingregionsoftheworldshowamixofthesepatterns.

ThispaperisaproductoftheOfficeoftheChiefEconomist,EuropeandCentralAsiaRegion.ItispartofalargereffortbytheWorldBanktoprovideopenaccesstoitsresearchandmakeacontributiontodevelopmentpolicydiscussionsaroundtheworld.PolicyResearchWorkingPapersarealsopostedontheWebat

/prwp

.Theauthorsmaybecontactedatitorre@andmlokshin@.

ThePolicyResearchWorkingPaperSeriesdisseminatesthefindingsofworkinprogresstoencouragetheexchangeofideasaboutdevelopmentissues.Anobjectiveoftheseriesistogetthefindingsoutquickly,evenifthepresentationsarelessthanfullypolished.Thepaperscarrythenamesoftheauthorsandshouldbecitedaccordingly.Thefindings,interpretations,andconclusionsexpressedinthispaperareentirelythoseoftheauthors.TheydonotnecessarilyrepresenttheviewsoftheInternationalBankforReconstructionandDevelopment/WorldBankanditsaffiliatedorganizations,orthoseoftheExecutiveDirectorsoftheWorldBankorthegovernmentstheyrepresent.

ProducedbytheResearchSupportTeam

DoesSocialMobilityAffectEconomicDevelopment?

Cross-CountryAnalysisUsingDifferentMobilityMeasures

IvánTorre,MichaelLokshin,

andJamesFoster1

JEL:D63,I24,J62,O15,O52

Keywords:Intergenerationalsocialmobility,education,economicgrowth

1IvánTorreisSeniorEconomistandMichaelLokshinLeadEconomistintheChiefEconomistOfficeoftheEuropeandCentralAsiaRegionoftheWorldBank.JamesFosteristheOliverT.Carr,Jr.ProfessorofInternationalAffairsandProfessorofEconomicsatGeorgeWashingtonUniversity.Thispaper’sfindings,interpretations,andconclusionsareentirelythoseoftheauthorsanddonotnecessarilyrepresenttheviewsoftheWorldBank,itsExecutiveDirectors,orthecountriestheyrepresent.TheauthorsthankSergioPerillaandMiguelPurroyforexcellentresearchassistance.

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1.Introduction

Technologicalprogressistheprimarydriverofeconomicgrowthandimprovementsinlivingstandards.However,higherspendingonresearchanddevelopmentalonemaybeinsufficienttofuelbreakthroughscientificinnovationsthatrequireanincreasingflowoftalented,well-trainedpeople

(Romer2000)

.Whenallthetalentsinsocietyarefullyrealized,thelabormarketsbecomemoreefficient,andproductivitygrowsatafasterrate.Butonlyinsociallymobilesocieties,wherefamilycircumstancesdonotmatterinexplainingeducationaloutcomes,cantalentbebetterallocated.Thus,itisexpectedthatsociallymobilesocietiesmayalsobemoreprosperous.Theextenttowhichthisexpectationistrueremainsunclear.

Complexinteractionsbetweeninheritedtraits,socialnorms,theenvironmentinwhichchildrenareraised,labormarkets,andpublicpoliciesdetermineindividuals’opportunitiestoreachtheirfullpotential.Educationplaysamajorroleindefiningaperson’scareertrajectoryandlifetimeearnings.Thelevelofinvestmentinachild’seducationstronglydependsonparentalincomeandhumancapitalaswellasonparentalpreferencesandriskperceptions

(Christophetal.2024)

.Better-educatedparentsnotonlyearnmore,buttheyarealsomoreeffectiveinproducinghumancapitalintheirchildren.Thecomplementaritybetweenparentalhumancapitalandinvestmentsinchildrenleadswealthierparentstoinvestmoreintheirchildren’shumancapitalthanpoorparentsdo

(HeckmanandMosso2014;

Beckerandothers2018)

.Withoutgovernmentinvolvement,theintergenerationalpersistenceofeducationwillperpetuatecross-generationalincomeinequality,reducingthechancesoftalentedchildrenfrompoorfamiliessucceedinginlife

(Corak2013;

van

derWeideandothers2023)

.Bydrawingsuchchildrenintoscienceandinnovation,policiesdesignedtoimproveintergenerationalmobilitycouldincreasethenumberofinventorsandboosteconomicgrowth

(Bellandothers2019).

Infact,asthesocialreturnsondiscoveriesusuallygreatlyexceedthepersonalreturnstoinnovators,thecaseforpublicpolicyinterventionsisstrong.

Achallengeinmakingpolicyinferencesfromtheanalysisofintergenerationaleducationalmobilityisthepossibilitythattheobservedimmobilityisaconsequenceofothereconomicfailuresinsociety.Forexample,theprimogeniturethatstronglysuppressessocialmobilitycouldbea

responsetoinefficientcapitalmarketsandtheneedtoensureaminimalfirmsize

(Rodríguez

2009)

.Comparingintergenerationalmobilityacrosscountriesandrelyingoncross-country

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variationsineducationalandwelfarepoliciesandregulationscouldhelp(partially)disentanglethecontributionsofdifferentcorrelatesofsocialmobility.

Thispaperanalyzesthelinkbetweenchangesinintergenerationalmobilityandlong-termdevelopment.ThepapercombinesdataonintergenerationaleducationalmobilityfromthreeroundsoftheLifeinTransitionSurvey(2010,2016,and2022–23)

(EBRD2024

),whichcoversmorethan30countriesinEuropeandCentralAsia,anddatafromtheGlobalDatabaseonIntergenerationalMobility(GDIM,

VanderWeideandothers2023)

.Dataonmobilityiscomplementedbydataonpresentandpasteconomicoutcomestoformapanelof68countriesovertheperiod2000-2020.Thispapercontributestotheliteratureonintergenerationalmobilityanddevelopmentintwoways.Ourprimarycontributionisthat,unlikeexistingstudiesthatfocusonsubnationaldistrictsorspecificregions,wecarryoutaworldwidecross-countryanalysisoftherelationshipbetweenintergenerationalmobilityandcountryincome.Thisallowsustoprovideevidenceofthenatureofthisrelationshipacrossdifferentdevelopmentcontexts.Thesecondcontributionofourpaperistointroduceanewmeasureofintergenerationalmobilityineducation—themobilitygap—andcompareitsperformancewithseveralexistingmobilitymeasures.Thispaperpresentsthefirstempiricalapplicationofthisnewmeasure.

Thepatternsofintergenerationalmobilityacrosscountriesandgenerationsvarysignificantlydependingonthemobilitymeasureused.InEuropeandCentralAsia,upwardabsolutemobilityhasbeendecliningacrossbirthcohorts,whilerelativemobilityhasnotchangedsignificantly,suggestingthatanabsolutereductioninintergenerationalmobilityineducationmaybecommonacrosstheentireeducationdistribution.SouthAsiahasseenincreasesinabsoluteandrelativemobility,whileLatinAmericahasexperiencedlittlechangeinabsolutemobilitybutincreasesinrelativemobility.

Theempiricalanalysisoftheassociationbetweenintergenerationalmobilityandcountryincomelevelsshowsasignificantcontext-specificrelationship.IndicatorsofrelativemobilityinEuropeandCentralAsiaarenotcorrelatedwithcountryincomelevelsovertime.Onlyaspecificdimensionofabsolutemobility—upwardmobilityinhighereducation(theprobabilitythatanindividualwhoseparentsdidnotachievehighereducationdoesso)—showsapositiveandstatisticallysignificantassociationwithcountryincome.InLatinAmericaandtheCaribbean,higherrelativemobilityisassociatedwithlowerincome,whilehigherabsolutemobilityis

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associatedwithhigherincome.Thisfindingsuggeststhatsomeaspectsofmobilitymaybemorerelevantfordevelopmentinsomecontextsthanothers.

Thefollowingsectionreviewsrelevantstudiesofintergenerationaleducationalmobility.Section3examinesmeasuresofmobility.Section4describesthestudy’sempiricalmethodology.Section5describesthedata.Section6presentsthemainpatternsofintergenerationaleducationalmobility.Section7presentsthemainresultsoftheempiricalanalysisandassociatedrobustnesstests.Section8concludes.

2.Literaturereview

Multiplestudiescarriedoutadescriptiveexplorationofthepatternsofintergenerationaleducationalmobility.

Hertzetal.(2007)

usedatafrom42countriesbetween1992and2005tomeasurethepersistenceofeducationalattainmentacrossgenerationsbybirthcohort.Theyfind

significantvariationinthecross-countrylevelsofintergenerationaleducationalmobility,withhighpersistenceofeducationalattainmentinLatinAmericaandmuchhighereducationalmobilityincountriesofNorthernEurope.

Chevalier,Denny,andMcMahon(2009)

studythepatternsofintergenerationaleducationalmobilityin20developedcountries,includingtheUnitedStates,Canada,NewZealand,and17Europeancountries,andfindthatexpandingaccesstohighereducationisnotalwaysassociatedwithincreasedmobility.

CausaandJohanson(2010)

findapositiveandsignificantcorrelationbetweenparentalhumancapitalandtheirchildren’seducationalandwageoutcomesincountriesoftheOrganisationforEconomicCo-operationandDevelopment(OECD).

Financialconstraintsmayholdbackhigh-abilityindividualsfromdisadvantagedbackgrounds.

RazzuandWambile(2022)

studyintergenerationaleducationalmobilityin34countriesofSub-SaharanAfricaforcohortsborninthe1960s–1990s.Theyfindthatchildren’seducationaloutcomesdependstronglyontheirparents’educationalstatusbutthatthestrengthofthisassociationisweakerforyoungergenerations.TheauthorspointtohighheterogeneityineducationalmobilityacrossAfricancountries.

VanderWeideandothers(2023)

compileaglobaldatabaseofintergenerationaleducationalmobilityin153countriesanddemonstratethatsuchmobilityisestimatedtobelowerintheaveragedevelopingcountrythanintheaveragehigh-incomecountry.

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Amongthefewpapersthatstudythelinkbetweensocialmobilityandeconomicdevelopment,

AydemirandYazici(2019)

discoverthatregionsofTürkiyewithbetterschoolavailability,greatersocialcapital,higherhomeresources,andlowereducationalinequalitiestendtohavehigherintergenerationalmobility.

Güellandothers(2018)

findsimilarresultsinItaly,whereprovinceswithhigherlevelsofeconomicactivity,lowerinequality,andhighersocialcapitalandeducationalattainmenthavegreaterintergenerationalsocialmobility.

LeeandLee(2022)

analyzethepersistenceofintergenerationaleducationattainmentsbyagecohortsin30developedeconomiesandfindthathigherpercapitaGDPpositivelycorrelateswithsocialmobility

.Neidhoferandothers

(2023)

estimatetherelationshipbetweenchangesineducationalintergenerationalmobilityand

regionaleconomicindicatorsinasampleof52regionsinsixcountriesinLatinAmerica.Theyreportthatincreasingsocialmobilitycorrelateswithrisingincomepercapita,incomegrowth,andotherdevelopmentindicators.

Afewstudiesreachdifferentconclusions.

Clarkandothers(2014)

conductamulti-countryhistoricalanalysisofsocialmobilitybasedonsurnames.Theyarguethateconomicdevelopment,progressiveincomeredistribution,anddevelopmentofpubliceducationmatterlessthanotherstudiessuggest,claimingthatmobilityvarieslittleacrosssocietiesandis,therefore,uncorrelatedwitheconomicoutcomes.

3.Measuresofeducationalmobility

Weusefourmeasurestocapturetrendsinintergenerationaleducationalmobilityacrosscountriesandgenerations.

Orientedmobilitymeasures

Thenewapproachtomeasuringintergenerationalmobilityproposedby

FosterandRothbaum

(2023,unpublished)

addressestheshortcomingsofmanymeasuresofintergenerationalmobility

andproposesnewaxiomaticallysound,practical,simple-to-implement,andeasy-to-communicatemeasures.Thispaperoffersthefirstempiricalapplicationofthismethod.

Thetwomostcommonapproachestomeasuringintergenerationalmobilityaretoestimate

correlationsbetweenandtheelasticity(asaregressioncoefficient)ofchildren’seducationwithrespecttotheirparents’education(see,forexample,

AydemirandYazici(2019))

.Despitetheirpopularity,bothmethodshaveshortcomings.

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First,theymayfailtoregisterdynamicchangesineducationalstructure.Forexample,increasesineducationalattainmentbychildrenofbetter-educatedparentsandstagnationordeclineintheattainmentofchildrenfromless-educatedhouseholdscouldleadtoanincrease,adecrease,ornochangeinintergenerationalmobilitymeasuredbytheelasticity

(Corak2013)

.

Second,theapproachesproducemisleadingsubgroupcomparisonsbecausetheymeasureregressiontothesubgroupmeanratherthanthepopulationmean.Asaresult,twoagecohortscouldhavethesameintergenerationalmobilityevenifthelatercohorthadmuchhighermeaneducationalattainment.

Third,thecorrelationandelasticitymeasuresarenotdecomposablebygroup,makingitchallengingtousethemfortargeting(e.g.,

Blyth1972)

.

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Transitionmatricesareanotherpopularclassofintergenerationalmobilitymeasures

(Shorrocks

1978)

.Thetransitionmatricesdefinegroups(suchasprimary,secondary,andhighereducation)

andestimatetheprobabilityoftransitioningfromonegrouptoanother.Thetransitionmatrixescapturethedistributionofmovementsacrossgroups;theycanseparateoutcomesforchildrenfrom,forinstance,householdswithlowandhighlevelsofeducation.

Althoughtheyyieldricherpolicyimplicationsthantheelasticityandcorrelation-basedmeasures,transitionmatriceshavetheirownproblems.Amongthemaredatacensoringandarbitrarythresholds,whenonlymovementsacrossthesethresholds“count”asmobilityandthusareamplifiedintheanalysis,whilemovementsnotobservedduetocensoringarenotcounted.

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Asaresult,itmightbechallengingtoseparatetheeffectsonintergenerationalmobilityoftheunderlyingfundamentalchangesintheeducationalstructurefromtheeffectsofcensoringandthechoiceofcutoffs.Transitionmatricesalsoproducenoheadlinemeasures,whichiscrucialfortheabilityofpolicymakerstocommunicatetheirintentionstothepublicand,thus,forsuccessfulpolicyimplementation.

Distance-basedmobilitymeasures,oftenusedtoanalyzeincomemobility(see

Cowell1985;

Field

andOk1996;

BatanaandDuclos2010;

Corak,Lindquist,andMazumder2014;

Bárcena-Martín

andCantó2024)

,areseldomusedtoanalyzeeducationalintergenerationalmobility.Unlike

2Spearmancorrelationsorrank-rankcoefficientsarealsousedintheanalysisofintergenerationalmobility.

3Becauseyearsofeducationarerarelyavailableandoftenderivedfromeducationallevels,theproblemofarbitrarythresholdsmightnotbeveryrelevantforstudiesofeducationalmobility.

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transitionmatrixes,distance-basedmeasuresrequirenoarbitrarythresholds,andtheycapturethechurningorfluxofeducationalattainmentsacrossgroupswell.Thesemeasurescanalsobeusedtogeneratepolicy-relevantheadlinemetrics.Distance-basedmobilitymeasuresignorethedirectionofchangeorthe“quality”ofmobility,however,andarenothelpfulforpolicytargetingoridentifyinggroupsthatbenefitedmostfrommobilityorsufferedthemostfromlackofit.

Theneworienteddistance-basedapproachtomeasuringintergenerationalmobilityaimstoassesswhetherchildrenhavegreatereducationalattainmentthantheirparentsand,ifso,byhowmuch.

FosterandRothbaum(2023)

discusstheaxiomaticsandtheoreticalconsiderationsfortheclassoforientedmobilitymeasuresM(p).Wesummarizethetheoreticalresultsrelevanttoourempiricalanalysis.

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Definethesetofupwardmoverssuchthat

andasetofdownwardmoverssuchthat:

QD=QD(p)={i:s>s},(2)

wherepisavectorofparent–childdyadspi,sistheparent’syearsofeducation,sisthechild’s

yearsofeducation,andnisthenumberofdyads.Oncedyadsarecategorizedaccordingtoequations(1)and(2),theycanbeaggregatedtoobtainorientedmeasuresofintergenerationalmobility.Themoststraightforwardmetricistheorientedheadcountratio:

f0rO=U,D,(3)

whereqo=|Qo|isthenumberofmovers.

Theorientedheadcountratioconveysmeaningfulinformationaboutmobility.Liketheheadcountratiosinpovertyanalysis,however,itisacrudewayofassessingtheextentofmobility.ThisshortcomingcouldberemediedbyincorporatingtheaverageeducationalgapbetweenaparentandachildbydefiningtheorientededucationalgapIoasfollows:

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FosterandRothbaum(2023)

showthatdistance-basedorientedmobilitymeasuressatisfythedominance,invariance,andsubgroupstandardforthemobilitymeasuresaxiomsandtheexpansionaxiom.Neidhoferandothers(2023)alsoproposeanorientedmeasureofupwardmobility,buttheyprovidenoaxiomaticfoundationfortheirmeasure.

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ΣiEQo|s|andGo=HoIotobetheOrientedmobilitygap.

(4)

Absolutemobilitymeasures

Theorientedmobilitygapcapturesbroadmovementsoftheeducationdistributionacrossgenerations.Alternativeabsolutemobilitymeasuresfocusonthemovementofcertainpartsoftheeducationdistribution.Ameasureproposedby

Alesinaandothers(2021)

estimatestheprobability

ofcompletingprimaryeducationbychildrenwhoseparentsdidnot.

Neidhoferandothers(2023)

usedasimilarmeasure,theprobabilityofupwardmobility,focusingoncompletingsecondaryschool.Thesemeasuresmaynothaveadequateempiricalsupportinhigher-incomecountries,whereprimaryeducationcompletionisalmostuniversalandsecondaryeducationisincreasinglyso,as

VanderWeideandothers(2023)

pointout.Becauseoursamplerepresentsmostlyamixofhigh-andmiddle-incomecountries,weredefinethismeasure,whichwedenotedasupwardmobilityinhighereducation(UMHE),astheprobabilityofcompletinghighereducationbychildrenwhoseparentsdidnot:

UMHE=Prob(s≥tertiary|s<tertiary)(5)

Relativemobilitymeasures

Oneofthecommonmeasuresofrelativemobilityisintergenerationalpersistence(IP)ineducation,definedastheadditionalyearsofschoolingofachildassociatedwithonemoreyearofschoolingofhisorherparents.Thismeasureisderivedfromamultivariatemodelthatisspecifiedas

s=βs+yci+εi,(6)

wheresisyearsofeducationofthechildi,sisyearsofeducationofthechild’sparents,andβ

isthedegreeofIP.β=0representsacaseofcompletemobility;theeducationalattainmentofchildrenisunrelatedtotheeducationoftheirparents;β=1representsthecaseinwhichtheeducationofthechildrenmirrorstheeducationoftheparents(anextrayearofeducationoftheparentsresultsinonemoreyearofchildschooling).Ahighervalueof阝representsalowerdegreeofmobility.ciisavectorofindividualcharacteristicsofthechild,thechild’sparents,andthecharacteristicsofthehouseholdwhenthechildwasyoung.However,following

VanderWeide

andothers(2023)

andtoensureconsistencywiththeestimatesofthismeasurecomingfromthe

5Theterm“oriented”comesfromfactthatthismobilitymeasure,whileabsoluteinvalue,isbasedonsubsetsofupwardordownwardmovers.

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GDIM,wedonotincludeinourspecificationanycontrolvariableotherthanadummyindicatorforthesurveyinwhichthedatawerecollected(tocontrolfordifferencesinthedatacollectionprocess).

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Anadditionalmeasureofrelativemobilityistheintergenerationalcorrelation(IC)ineducation—

thecorrelationbetweensands.ICisdefinedsimilarlytoIPbutintermsofthestandard

deviationofschooling.Itmeasurestheincreaseinstandarddeviationsofachild’seducationassociatedwithaonestandarddeviationincreaseinhisorherparents’education.Ahighercorrelationindicatesalowerdegreeofmobility.

4.Educationalmobilityandeconomicdevelopment:Empiricalframework

Toanalyzetherelationshipbetweeneducationalmobilityandeconomicdevelopment,werelyonaframeworksimilartothatof

Neidhoferandothers(2023).

Ourmainempiricalspecificationisthefollowing:

yct=wc+τt+βMct+δxxct+δhHct+δiIct+εct,(7)

whereYctisthelevelofincomeincountrycinyeart;ωarecountryfixedeffects;τareyearfixedeffects;Mctistheaggregatelevelofmobilityincountrycinyeart,calculatedusingmaternaleducation;

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Xct,Hct,andIctarevectorsofcontrolvariables;εisaresidual;andβandδareparameterstobeestimated.Ascontrolvariables,weincludecontemporarycountry-levelvariables(Xct),suchasincomeinequality(measuredbytheGiniindex)andthelogofpopulationsize(whichweincludewithaquadraticpolynomial).Wealsoincludeasetofcohort-levelvariables(Hct),suchastheaverageyearsofeducationoftheworkforceanditsstandarddeviation.Thesetwovariablesaimtocontrolfordifferentlevelsandallocationsofhumancapital,respectively.Wealsoinclude

6IncludinganycontrolvariablethatrelatestoindividualorhouseholdcharacteristicswouldthenresultinestimatesofIPconditionalonthosecharacteristics.Thiscouldbedesirabledependingontheobjectiveofthestudy.Inourcurrentsetting,whereweareinterestedincomparingthecorrelationbetweendifferencesinmobilityacrosscountriesanddifferencesincountry-leveleconomicoutcomes,weexplicitlydonotwanttoconditiontheestimatesofmobilitytoindividualorhouseholdlevelcharacteristics.

7Severalstudiesnotethatmothers’yearsofschoolinghaveastrongereffectthanfather’syearsofschoolingontheintergenerationaleducationalmobilityofbothdaughtersandsons(see

Ranasinghe(2015)

forAustralia;

Bjorklund

Lindahl,andPlug(2006)

forSweden;

Tansel(2015)

forTürkiye;and

AzomahouandYitbarek(2016)

foreightcountriesinSub-SaharanAfrica).However,

Lam(1999)

and

GirdwoodandLeibbrandt(2009)

demonstratethat,inSouthAfrica,thelinkbetweenchildrenandthefather’seducationisstrongerthanthatofthemother.Also,whilematernaleducationisastrongerdeterminantofchildren’sachievementsinurbanChina,paternaleducationplaysamoreimportantroleinruralChina

(Wangetal.2024)

.TheLifeinTransitionSurveycollectsinformationontheeducationofbothparents.Ourstudyisbasedonmothers’yearsofschooling;weusespecificationswiththeeducationofthefatherandtheeducationofbothparentsforsensitivityanalysis.

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asetofvariablesrelatedtotheinitialconditionsofthebirthcohortsintheworkforce(Ict)—namely,thelogGDPpercapita,thepopulationsize,andtheinfantmortalityrateinthedecadeofbirth.Theinitialconditionsduringchildhoodmayhavelong-termeffectsonadultproductivityandaffecttherelationshipbetweenmobilityandeconomicdevelopment.

Themisallocationoftalentthatresultsfromloweducationalmobilitywithinagivenbirthcohortmayimpactproductivityonlywhenthisbirthcohortenterstheworkforce.Totakethisintoaccount,wefollowNeidhoferandothers(2023)toestimatecohortparticipationprofilesforeachcountry-year.Weestimatetheaggregatelevelofmobilityinthefollowingway:

wherembcisthemobilityofcohortb(outofatotalofBcohorts)incountryc,andnbctisthenumberofemployedpeopleincohortbincountrycinyeart.Theaggregatelevelofmobilityinacountryatagiventimeisthustheweightedmobilityofthedifferentcohorts,wheretheweightsaretheshareofeachcohortinthecountry’slaborforceatthatpointintime.Weapplythissameweightingproceduretothecohort-specificvariablesinequation(7).

5.Thedata

Thispapercombinesdatafromtwomainsources:theLifeinTransitionSurvey(LiTS)andtheGlobalDatabaseonIntergenerationalMobility(GDIM).

LiTSisusedastheprimarydatasourceforderivingintergenerationaleducationalmobilityinthecountriesofEuropeandCentralAsia.LiTShasbeenimplementedbytheEuropeanBankof

ReconstructionandDevelopment(EBRD)andtheWorldBank.ThesurveycoversthetransitioneconomiesofEuropeandCentralAsia

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andseveralcomparatorcountriesinWesternEurope,theMiddleEast,andNorthAfrica

(EBRD2023)

.ThefirstroundoftheLiTSwascarriedoutin2006,thesecondin2010,thethirdin2016,andthefourthin2022–23.Thisstudyusesthesecond,third,andfourthrounds,whichprovidecomparableinformationonparentaleducation.

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Thesurvey

8OurdefinitionofEuropeandCentralAsiaincludesallthecountriesoftheformerSovietUnion,Türkiye,andtheformerplannedeconomiesofCentralandEasternEurope.Northern,Southern,andWesternEuropearenotincluded,andbelongtothegroupofcountrieswedefineasHighIncomecountries.

9TheclassificationofparentaleducationinthefirstroundoftheLiTSisnotcomparabletothatofthefollowingrounds.Wethereforexclud