Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/305694 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 17252
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
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.
Subjects: 
elite universities
intergenerational mobility
human capital
social capital
JEL: 
I24
D64
J62
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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