Does Ignorance of Economic Returns and Costs Explain the Educational Aspiration Gap? Representative Evidence from Adults and Adolescents

Lergetporer, Philipp; Werner, Katharina und Wößmann, Ludger (2021): Does Ignorance of Economic Returns and Costs Explain the Educational Aspiration Gap? Representative Evidence from Adults and Adolescents. In: Economica, Bd. 88, Nr. 351: S. 624-670

Abstract

The gap in university enrolment by parental education is large and persistent in many countries. In our representative survey of German adults, 74% of university graduates, but only 36% of those without a university degree, favour university education for their children. The latter are more likely to underestimate returns and overestimate costs of university. Similarly, 75% of adolescents with university-educated parents, but only 51% without university-educated parents aspire to a university degree. Experimental provision of general return and cost information does not close the aspiration gap as treatment effects are at least as strong for individuals with a university background as for those without. Differences in economic preference parameters also cannot account for the educational aspiration gap.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Volkswirtschaft
• Themengebiete: 300 Sozialwissenschaften > 330 Wirtschaft
• ISSN: 0013-0427
• Sprache: Englisch