Ethnic Capital and Intergenerational Mobility

47 Pages Posted: 9 Jan 2007 Last revised: 9 Nov 2022

See all articles by George J. Borjas

George J. Borjas

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: July 1991

Abstract

This paper analyzes the extent to which ethnic skill differentials are transmitted across generations. I assume that ethnicity acts as an externality in the human capital accumulation process. The skills of the next generation depend on parental inputs and on the quality of the ethnic environment in which parents make their investments, or "ethnic capital." The empirical evidence reveals that the skills of today's generation depend not only on the skills of their parents, but also on the average skills of the ethnic group in the parent's generation.

Suggested Citation

Borjas, George J., Ethnic Capital and Intergenerational Mobility (July 1991). NBER Working Paper No. w3788, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=473943

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