4. Urbanization and intergenerational mobility in Ethiopia
4.5. Discussion and conclusion
90
91 Table 4.9. Potentially mobility enhancing policies
Sr.
No. Needs assessment
(Source of inequality) Type of policy Specific policy options Rationale Expected outcome 1 Gap in maternal health Health and
Nutrition
Food supplementation programs, nutrition information, prenatal services
Reducing gaps among women of childbearing age can have a positive effect on infant health (Hoddinott et al. 2008)
Equalizing opportunities among women of childbearing age 2 Gap in child health Health and
Nutrition
Food supplementation programs, nutrition information, postnatal services
Nutritional and health
improvements in early childhood can yield long-term benefits in education outcomes and wages (Hoddinott et al. 2008)
Equalizing health opportunities among children at an early age
3 Gap in access to and quality of preschool programs
Fiscal policy and education reform
Expand preschool childcare coverage and implement reforms to target specific cognitive and socioemotional development
Cognitive and non-cognitive skills acquired at preschool has a significant effect on education and labour market performance (Heckman 2006)
Equalizing education opportunities among children at an early age
4 Gap in public investment on vital infrastructure
Fiscal policy Expand access to and quality of public goods targeting
disadvantaged locations71. (schools, health centres, roads, and subsidized housing)
Lower inequality in access to and quality of public services
improves mobility and long-term sustainable growth (Narayan et al. 2018)
Improve the
accessibility of public goods in disadvantaged locations
5 Low quality of public services
Public sector reform
Implement rigorous reforms to improve the quality of public services. (education system, extension system)72
As in 4 above
Improve the quality of public services accessible in
disadvantaged locations 6 Gap in access to and
drop out of schools
Fiscal policy (public safety net)
Expand access to and quality of public schools targeting
disadvantaged students73. E.g. School meal program;
secondary school scholarship
As in 4 above
Improve the accessibility of education among disadvantaged students 7 Gap in aspirations
window74
Cross-cutting Improve exposure of children and their parents to information,
High aspirations improve educational & labour market
Widen the aspiration window of
71 Since primary school enrollments in Ethiopia has approach 100 percent, the required expansion in schools might be mainly post elementary school level.
72A range of required interventions to improve the quality of learning and reduce inequalities in learning outcomes in developing countries is detailed in World Bank (2018). For spatial distribution of the public services in Ethiopia and the necessary reforms to improve quality service delivery in rural Ethiopia, see Abate et al. (2019)
73 This could prove to be very effective in Ethiopia as dropout rates at all levels of schools are large (see Table A4.8)
74 Aspirations window refers to a set of similar (or attainable) individuals whose lives and achievements help form one’s future goals (Genicot and Ray 2020)
92 Sr.
No. Needs assessment
(Source of inequality) Type of policy Specific policy options Rationale Expected outcome experiences, and role models to
influence aspirations.
outcomes (Genicot and Ray 2020)
disadvantaged individuals 8 Gap in labor force
participation
Active labor Market Policies (ALMP)
Parental leave, flexible workplace, childcare service
Directly, labor is one of the major sources of income; Indirectly, the gap in the labor market worsens IGM
Improve labor force participation, especially of women
9 Gap in labor supply As in 8 above Facilitate integration of youth into the labor market; offer labor market information and training
As in 8 above
Improve the
employability of labor 10 Gap in labor demand As in 8 above Wage subsidies to employers;
public works targeting
disadvantaged individuals and disadvantaged locations
As in 8 above
Stimulate job creation
12 Capital market imperfection
Various Improve access to credit;
otherwise, mitigating the effects of the imperfections through targeted transfers to low-income families (e.g. Unemployment benefit; safety net)
Credit constraints and lack of insurance might limit mobility by reducing investments on education and potentially
profitable opportunities (Narayan et al. 2018)
Improved access to capital market
93 4.5.2. Conclusion
This study examines the extent of intergenerational persistence in social status using data from the Ethiopian Living Standard Measurement Study – Integrated Survey on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA). The findings point to a strong correlation between parental and child educational and occupational status, even after controlling for a wide range of individual, household, and location characteristics.
The results indicate that the extent of economic mobility correlates with urbanization. Urbanization is associated strongly and positively with both the level and inequality in educational status. Low IGM is one of the key channels through which this inequality persists. In large urban areas, parental education significantly influences the educational attainments of their children. This is particularly the case for levels above secondary education. Compared to a child from parents with no education, a child from parents with secondary or tertiary education is about twice more likely to attain tertiary education in large urban areas.
Similarly, while parental self-employment influences their children's occupation status in both rural and urban areas, there is significant persistence in occupation across generations in large urban areas for all employment types. All else the same, the likelihood of employment is significantly different for children from parents with elementary occupations and children from parents with skilled wage employment. In general, in large urban areas, children of parents employed in better-paid occupations are more likely to be employed in similar occupations themselves. The same cannot be said for children from rural areas and small towns.
The study also shows that the inequality observed in occupational opportunities in large urban areas is largely explained by differences in educational attainment. Once an individual's education level is taken into account, large urban areas offer better employment opportunities than small towns or rural areas, regardless of parents' occupational status. This suggests that broadening access to and reducing the dropout rates at post-elementary schools and improving the quality of education, is one of the most effective mechanisms to reduce intra- and inter-generational inequality.
94
CHAPTER