Spatial inequalities in educational opportunities: The role of public policies
Abstract
This paper documents spatial patterns in intergenerational mobility at the top of the educational distribution and assess the role of public policies in increasing educational opportunities. Our analysis relies on novel administrative data of public university students in Uruguay’s, a small high income developing
country. We first document that the percentage of university students whose parents did not attain university increased 7 p.p between 2002 and 2020. Tough this imply a significant increase in intergenerational mobility spatial inequality still prevails. As a way to reduce this inequality of opportunities, the main public University started a campus expansion policy in 2008. We exploit the time and location variation in the implementation to provide causal evidence of its impact on total enrollment and the share of first-generation university students (mobility at the top). Results from the difference in differences analysis show that the policy was successful in increasing the number of students from localities and the share of students with parents that do not hold a university degree (3% increase) in those localities where
campuses opened but also in those 50 kms around. Our results suggest the important role of public policies in the reduction of inequality of opportunities and in increasing mobility at the top.
Subject
Country / Region
Date
2021-12-17Cite this publication
Belongs to collection

Author
Katzkowicz, NoemíQuerejeta, Martina
Rosá, Tatiana
Items Relacionados
Intergenerational earnings mobility and macroeconomic shocks: Evidence based on administrative records
This paper provides novel evidence on trends in intergenerational earnings mobility in a developing country and explores some transmission mechanisms ...
Spillovers of health education at school on parents´ physical activity
To prevent modern health conditions like obesity, cancer, cardiovascular illness, and diabetes, which have reached epidemic-like proportions in recent ...
Intergenerational mobility in education in Latin America
This document provides a comprehensive analysis of intergenerational mobility in Latin America, focusing on the association between parental education ...