The Impact of Family Background on the Returns on and Length of Schooling in Sweden

Abstract

It is a common observation in most societies that children of parents with high incomes, extensive schooling and high-status occupations tend to emulate the behaviour of their parents and in particular invest more in schooling than other children. This pattern is often considered a problem from both equity and efficiency points of views. It represents inequality of opportunity and possibly also inefficiency if the intellectual capacity of all children is not fully exploited. A variety of educational policies have been advocated to reduce the importance of family background for schooling decisions. No country seems, however, to have been very successful in this respect.