Schooling and the Intergenerational Transmission of Values

Della Giusta, M.; Hashimzade, N.; Myles, G.D.

Abstract

We present a model of the evolution of identity via dynamic interaction between the choice of education and the transmission of values in a community from parents to children, when parents care about the preservation of their traditional community values, different from the values of the host society. We compare the educational and socioeconomic outcomes in different scenarios (melting pot versus multiculturalism). If schooling shifts children's identity away from their parents' values, parents may choose lower levels of education for their children, at the cost of reducing their future earnings. We show how this effect can be attenuated and reversed when the school or, indeed, the host society are willing to accommodate the values of the community and/or to adjust to these values; otherwise the community gradually becomes alienated. This approach may be applied to the analysis of temporal changes in values and attitudes in a community of immigrants, as well as ethnic, religious, or other minority groups.

Citation

Della Giusta, M., Hashimzade, N., & Myles, G. (2017). Schooling and the Intergenerational Transmission of Values. Journal of Public Economic Theory, 19(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpet.12184

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 7, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Mar 30, 2016
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2017
• Deposit Date: Jul 17, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 30, 2018
• Journal: Journal of Public Economic Theory
• Print ISSN: 1097-3923
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-9779
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 19
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 1-17
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jpet.12184
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1404944