The intergenerational transmission of inequality and education in fourteen countries : a comparison

The chapters in this book have studied the direct effect of social origins on achievement (DESO) in 14 countries, measuring its size and analysing how it varies over time and by the level of education achieved. They have also investigated how returns to education vary over time. If one recalls the classic OED (Origin-Education-Destination) triangle discussed in the introduction of this book, each national chapter has provided evidence on the direct OD relation net of achieved education (i.e. the DESO), on the OD relation conditional to achieved education (DESO by level of education) and on the ED relation (i.e. returns to education). Each chapter has considered different labour market outcomes as measures for D, namely ISEI and income, and some of them have also made reference to social class. Education has been measured through the most detailed and appropriate classification available for each country. In this final chapter, we summarize the main evidence reported in the country chapters (section 2), and discuss the mechanisms that might underlie the direct effect of social origin on achieved social position (section 3). We conclude with suggestions for further research (section 4) and with a discussion of the policy implications of our findings (section 5).