The causal effect of early tracking in German schools on the intergenerational transmission of education

Numerous studies have found a high intergenerational transmission of education in Germany which might be caused by the relatively early age at which the German school system tracks students into different school types. This study contributes to the scarce literature on the effect of a change in the age of tracking early in the schooling career on the intergenerational transmission of education and reveals new evidence on the heterogeneity of the effect. The identification strategy exploits a recent reform in one German state, which changed the time of tracking from after grade six to after grade four. The results of a difference-in-differences approach with data from the German Microcensus suggest that earlier tracking increases intergenerational transmission of both, low and high education. Male students and students in rural areas appear to drive the effect.