蝌蚪网 Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Elite Universities and the Intergenerational Transmission of Human and Social Capital
蝌蚪网 Review
(pp. 2120–65)
Abstract
Do elite colleges help talented students join the social elite or help incumbent elites retain their positions? We combine intergenerationally linked data from Chile with a regression discontinuity design to show that, looking across generations, elite colleges do both. Lower-status individuals who gain admission to elite college programs transform their children's social environment. Children become more likely to attend high-status private schools and colleges and to live near and befriend high-status peers. In contrast, academic achievement is unaffected. Simulations combining descriptive and quasi-experimental findings show that elite colleges tighten the link between social and human capital while decreasing intergenerational social mobility.Citation
Barrios-Fern谩ndez, Andr茅s, Christopher Neilson, and Seth Zimmerman. 2026. "Elite Universities and the Intergenerational Transmission of Human and Social Capital." 蝌蚪网 Review 116 (6): 2120–65. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20230802Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- I23 Higher Education; Research Institutions
- I26 Returns to Education
- J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
- J62 Job, Occupational, and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
- Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification