Does the Expansion of Higher Education Increase the Equality of Educational Opportunities? Evidence from Italy

41 Pages Posted: 16 Jul 2008

See all articles by Massimiliano Bratti

Massimiliano Bratti

Università degli Studi di Milano - DEAS; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Daniele Checchi

Università degli Studi di Milano - Dipartimento di Economia Politica e Aziendale (DEPA); IZA Institute of Labor Economics; IRVAPP

Guido de Blasio

Bank of Italy

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: July 11, 2008

Abstract

This paper studies the role of the expansion of higher education supply in increasing the equality of post-secondary education opportunities. It examines Italy's experience during the 1990s, when policy changes prompted universities to offer a wider range of degree courses and to open new campuses. Our analysis focuses on full-time students (not older than 31); the results suggest that the expansion had only limited effects in terms of reducing individual inequality in higher education achievement. That is, the greater availability of courses had a significant positive impact only on the probability of enrolment, not on that of obtaining a university degree, while the opening of new campuses had no effect.

Keywords: Higher Education, family background, Italy

JEL Classification: I2

Suggested Citation

Bratti, Massimiliano and Checchi, Daniele and de Blasio, Guido, Does the Expansion of Higher Education Increase the Equality of Educational Opportunities? Evidence from Italy (July 11, 2008). Bank of Italy Temi di Discussione (Working Paper) No. 679, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1160190 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1160190

Massimiliano Bratti

Università degli Studi di Milano - DEAS ( email )

Via Conservatorio, 7
I-20122 Milano
Italy

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Daniele Checchi

Università degli Studi di Milano - Dipartimento di Economia Politica e Aziendale (DEPA) ( email )

Milan, 20122
Italy
+39 02 5032 1519 (Phone)
+39 02 5032 1505 (Fax)

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

IRVAPP ( email )

Via Santa Croce 77
Trento, I-38122
Italy

Guido De Blasio (Contact Author)

Bank of Italy ( email )

Via Nazionale 91
00184 Roma
Italy

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