Education, Political Discontent, and Emigration Intentions: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Turkey

30 Pages Posted: 14 Jul 2019 Last revised: 18 Nov 2021

See all articles by Z. Eylem Gevrek

Z. Eylem Gevrek

Catholic University of Portugal (UCP) - Católica Porto Business School

Pinar Kunt

University of Konstanz - Department of Economics

Heinrich W. Ursprung

University of Konstanz; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Date Written: 2019

Abstract

We exploit the 1997 school reform that increased compulsory schooling from 5 to 8 years to investigate the causal effect of education on emigration intentions. Our IV estimates indicate that an additional year of schooling increases the probability of reporting the intention to emigrate by 24 percentage points. Moreover, we provide evidence that the identified effect of education on emigration intentions does not operate through financial dissatisfaction but rather through displeasure at a bleak political environment that better educated people are more keenly aware of.

Keywords: education, migration, political discontent

JEL Classification: I210, I250, I310

Suggested Citation

Gevrek, Z. Eylem and Kunt, Pinar and Ursprung, Heinrich, Education, Political Discontent, and Emigration Intentions: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Turkey (2019). CESifo Working Paper No. 7710, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3418634 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3418634

Z. Eylem Gevrek (Contact Author)

Catholic University of Portugal (UCP) - Católica Porto Business School ( email )

Rua de Diogo Botelho 1327
Porto, Porto 4169-005
Portugal

Pinar Kunt

University of Konstanz - Department of Economics ( email )

Konstanz, 78457
Germany

Heinrich Ursprung

University of Konstanz ( email )

Konstanz, D-78457
Germany
+49 7531 88 3713 (Phone)

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) ( email )

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

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