Why Birthright Citizenship Matters for Immigrant Children: Short- and Long-Run Impacts on Educational Integration

This paper examines whether the introduction of birthright citizenship in Germany affected immigrant children’s educational outcomes at the first three stages of the education system: preschool, primary school, and secondary school. Using a birth date cutoff as a source of exogenous variation, we fi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of labor economics 2020-01, Vol.38 (1), p.143-182
Main Authors: Felfe, Christina, Rainer, Helmut, Saurer, Judith
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citizenship
Elementary schools
Immigrants
Labor economics
Noncitizens
Preschool children
Preschool education
Secondary schools
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Summary:This paper examines whether the introduction of birthright citizenship in Germany affected immigrant children’s educational outcomes at the first three stages of the education system: preschool, primary school, and secondary school. Using a birth date cutoff as a source of exogenous variation, we find that the policy (i) increased immigrant children’s participation in noncompulsory preschool education, (ii) had positive effects on key developmental outcomes measured at the end of the preschool period, (iii) caused immigrant children to progress faster through primary school, and (iv) increased the likelihood of them attending the academic track of secondary school.
ISSN:0734-306X
1537-5307
DOI:10.1086/704570