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Author: DeBacker, Jason M.
Resulting in 2 citations.
1. DeBacker, Jason M.
Routon, P. Wesley
A Culture of Despair? Inequality and Expectations of Educational Success
Contemporary Economic Policy published online (4 March 2021): DOI: 10.1111/coep.12528.
Also: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/coep.12528
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: Western Economic Association International
Keyword(s): Educational Aspirations/Expectations; Educational Outcomes; Expectations/Intentions; Socioeconomic Status (SES)

A culture of despair represents a negative feedback loop, where perceptions of high economic inequality result in declines in expectations of future success and, in turn, lower probabilities of favorable outcomes. We focus on the first link in that proposed causal chain, the relationship between economic inequality and expectations. Using a panel of youths and geographic variation in inequality, we find a link between inequality and expectations regarding educational outcomes. Our findings show that youth of low socioeconomic status (SES) are negatively affected by inequality. In short, we find support for the theory of a culture of despair.
Bibliography Citation
DeBacker, Jason M. and P. Wesley Routon. "A Culture of Despair? Inequality and Expectations of Educational Success." Contemporary Economic Policy published online (4 March 2021): DOI: 10.1111/coep.12528.
2. DeBacker, Jason M.
Routon, P. Wesley
Expectations, Education, and Opportunity
Journal of Economic Psychology 59 (April 2017): 29-44.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167487016302379
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Educational Attainment; Expectations/Intentions; Parental Influences; Socioeconomic Background

Using a long panel of youths, we establish a causal link between parental expectations regarding education and educational attainment. In particular, we use an instrumental variables approach to find that the child's chances of obtaining a high school or college degree are increasing in the parent's expectations of the likelihood of these events. We then use differences between the objective likelihood of a child's educational attainment and the parents' subjective probabilities to consider the hypothesis that lower educational outcomes among certain groups are driven by a "culture of despair," where children are low-achieving because they are expected to underachieve. While we do find that children from households with lower levels of income, wealth, and parental education are less likely to attain high school and college degrees, we reject the hypothesis that this is driven by low subjective expectations of educational success. Rather, we find that parents from disadvantaged groups have expectations for the educational outcomes of their children that differ more from the statistical likelihood of these outcomes than do parents of children from advantaged households. That is, we find that parents in more disadvantaged households are more optimistic about the educational outcomes of their children than those from more advantaged households.
Bibliography Citation
DeBacker, Jason M. and P. Wesley Routon. "Expectations, Education, and Opportunity." Journal of Economic Psychology 59 (April 2017): 29-44.