Parental Risk Attitudes and Children's Secondary School Track Choice

37 Pages Posted: 10 Jan 2011

See all articles by Guido Heineck

Guido Heineck

University of Bamberg; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Oliver Wölfel

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: December 14, 2010

Abstract

It is well known that individuals’ risk attitudes are related to behavioral outcomes such as smoking, portfolio decisions, and also educational attainment, but there is barely any evidence on whether parental risk attitudes affect the educational attainment of dependent children. We add to this literature and examine children’s secondary school track choice in Germany where tracking occurs at age ten and has a strong binding character. Our results indicate no consistent patterns for paternal risk preferences but a strong negative impact of maternal risk aversion on children’s enrollment in upper secondary school.

Keywords: educational choice, risk attitudes, SOEP

JEL Classification: I21, J24

Suggested Citation

Heineck, Guido and Wölfel, Oliver, Parental Risk Attitudes and Children's Secondary School Track Choice (December 14, 2010). SOEPpaper No. 344, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1736579 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1736579

Guido Heineck (Contact Author)

University of Bamberg

Feldkirchenstr. 21
Bamberg, 96052
Germany

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

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

Oliver Wölfel

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

No Address Available

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