The Intergenerational Transmission of Schooling among the Education-Rationed

We estimate the intergenerational transmission of schooling in a country where the majority of the population was rationed in its access to education. By eliminating apartheid-style policies against blacks, the 1980 education reform in Zimbabwe swiftly tripled the progression rate to secondary schools. Using a fuzzy regression discontinuity design, we find large and robust intergenerational transmissions. Placebo tests for white Zimbabweans further validate our design. Evidence of assortative mating suggests that the marriage, rather than the labor, market is a key mechanism for these transmissions. We discuss how our results impact the long-term success and design of antipoverty policies.