The Effect of Parental Wealth on Educational Decisions

• Applicants: Dr. Nora Müller; Dr. Klaus Pforr
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: from 2018 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 403547843

Taking a life-course perspective, we will analyze the effect of parental wealth, measured as net worth, on three educational transitions: 1) the transition from primary to secondary school, 2) transitions within secondary school, and 3) transitions after successful completion of higher secondary school. We will empirically test a number of hypotheses that we derive from the subjective expected utility (SEU) model applying multinominal logistic regressions and methods of event history analysis. The specific contribution of our project will be threefold. First, we will empirically test whether parental wealth has an independent effect on educational decisions; second, we will amplify and test a set of potential causal mechanisms linking these two measures; and third, we will test for the heterogeneity of the parental wealth - educational decisions relationship across the wealth distribution.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Cooperation Partners: Professorin Dr. Birgit Becker; Oshrat Hochman, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Thorsten Schneider