Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Title: The Fall of the Aspirations Wall: Educational Aspirations, Achievement and Societal Change
Author-Name: Ghazala Azmat
Author-Email: ghazala.azmat@sciencespo.fr
Author-Name: Katja M. Kaufmann
Author-Email: kkaufman@uni-mainz.de

Classification-JEL: I21, D72, D91
Keywords: Aspirations; education; perceived returns; economic, social and political preferences; psychological well-being; German Reunification.

Abstract: We use the German Reunification “experiment” to study how an exogenously changed environment
(from state socialism to capitalist democracy) aects aspirations and future outcomes.
We analyze whether, and how quickly, individuals’ educational aspirations adapt,
their long-term impact and the underlying mechanisms. Using dierences across cohorts induced
by Reunification timing, we show that shortly after, educational aspirations among high
school students in East Germany increase substantially and translate into sizable increases
of completing university entrance certificate five years later. Perceived educational returns,
economic preferences (“consumerism”), socio-political attitudes (“individualism”) and psychological
well-being adapt quickly and are directly linked to changes in aspirations.

Note: 
Length: 46
Creation-Date: 2020-08
Revision-Date: 
File-URL: https://www.crctr224.de/research/discussion-papers/archive/dp207
File-Format: application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:bon:boncrc:CRCTR224_2020_207