Published in:
Nordic Economic Policy Review 1, pages 211-252.
Abstract:
Children of immigrant parents constitute a growing share of school cohorts in many OECD countries, and their educational performance is vital for long-term integration. We examine educational outcomes of first and second generation non-OECD immigrants in Norway. Children of immigrants, and particularly those born outside Norway, are much more likely to leave school early than native children. Importantly, this gap shrunk sharply over the past two decades and second generation immigrants are now approaching the educational performance of natives. For childhood immigrants, upper secondary completion rates decline with age at arrival, with a steep gradient after age seven. Finally, we find that immigrant-native attainment gaps disappear when we condition on grade points from compulsory school.