Educational mobility across multiple generations in Indonesia

Standard inter generational measures have been shown to understate the long-run persistence of socioeconomic advantages in developed countries.We study theoretically and empirically whether this pattern extends to less developed settings, using Indonesia as a case study.Using the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS) and Census data, we study multigenerational correlations in education across three generations.Contrary to previous findings, we observe greater multigenerational mobility than parent-child correlations alone would suggest.We develop a theoretical framework to highlight two key factors influencing multigenerational dynamics in developing countries: (1) financial and credit constraints, and (2) cultural norms related to marital sorting.To confirm their relevance, we exploit regional variations in exposure to the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis and in marital customs.