Return Migration, Investment in Children, and Intergenerational Mobility: Comparing Sons of Foreign and Native Born Fathers

44 Pages Posted: 3 Nov 2007

See all articles by Christian Dustmann

Christian Dustmann

University College London; Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Date Written: September 2007

Abstract

This paper studies parental investment in education and intergenerational earnings mobility for father-son pairs with native and foreign born fathers. We illustrate within a simple model that for immigrants, investment in their children is related to their return migration probability. In our empirical analysis, we include a measure for return probabilities, based on repeated information about migrants' return intentions. Our results suggest that educational investments in the son are positively associated with a higher probability of a permanent migration of the father. We also find that the son's permanent wages are positively associated with the probability of the father's permanent migration.

Keywords: intergenerational mobility, return intentions, educational investment, earnings

JEL Classification: J15, J24, J62

Suggested Citation

Dustmann, Christian, Return Migration, Investment in Children, and Intergenerational Mobility: Comparing Sons of Foreign and Native Born Fathers (September 2007). IZA Discussion Paper No. 3080, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1026903 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1026903

Christian Dustmann (Contact Author)

University College London ( email )

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Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

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