Institutional determinants of intergenerational education transmission — Comparing alternative mechanisms for natives and immigrants

• intergenerational education mobility is correlated with educational institutions.
• the patterns of association differ for natives and immigrants.
• the association of single institutions with mobility depends on model specification.
• age at kindergarten entry is important for immigrant educational mobility.
• grade of tracking is relevant for native educational mobility.

We use census data on 26 Swiss cantons to determine the association of educational institutions with the intergenerational transmission of education. We test whether education transmission is higher when children enter kindergarten and school earlier and when tracking occurs at a later age. In contrast to the literature we consider the three institutions jointly. Our results generally confirm the expected correlation patterns. Among second generation immigrants, the age at enrollment in kindergarten is most closely associated with educational mobility. Among natives, late tracking is most strongly and positively associated with educational mobility. Our results are robust to various alternative specifications.