Why do educated mothers matter? A model of parental help.

Canonva, Luciano and Vaglio, Alessandro (2010): Why do educated mothers matter? A model of parental help.

Abstract

This paper investigates the role performed by mothers in affecting their childrens� performance at school. The article develops �firstly a theoretical modelin which household (parent - child pair) is treated as an individual, whose utility depends both on the performance at school of the student and on consumption. The model focuses on the different possibilities through which help of mothers may affect pupil�s' performance both in terms of time devoted to supervision and spillover effects. Empirical evidence then, using PISA 2006 and focusing on Italian case, shows that education of mothers is an issue when interacted with her occupational status. Highly educated mothers have a positive impact on students�' score only when they are highly qualifi�ed in the job market.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: PISA 2006, parental help, education
• Subjects: H - Public Economics > H0 - General; N - Economic History > N3 - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy > N34 - Europe: 1913-; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R2 - Household Analysis

References

Hanushek, E.A (2008) "Education Production Function" The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition, MacMillan

Wolter S.C. (2003) "Sibling Rivalry: a Six Country Comparison" , IZA Discussion Papers, n. 734