in every country. The combined effects, that is, the lower intergenerational correlation and the rise in the dispersion of parental education, explain the slight increase in intergenerational correlation. These patterns are similar to those reported by Hertz et al. (2007) and Azam and Bhatt (2015).

Figure 3: Evolution of intergenerational educational persistence and standard deviations education by 5 years birth cohorts <!-- Start of picture text --> a. Comoros-2004 c. Ghana-2013 d. Guinea-2003<br>1939 1949 1959 1969 1979 1948 1958 1968 1978 1988 1937 1947 1957 1967 1977<br>5-years birth cohorts 5-years birth cohorts 5-years birth cohorts<br>e. Madagascar-2005 f. Malawi-2010 g. Nigeria-2010<br>1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1946 1956 1966 1976 1986 1946 1956 1966 1976 1986<br>5-years birth cohorts 5-years birth cohorts 5-years birth cohorts<br>h. Rwanda -2000 i. Tanzania-2009 j. Uganda-2005<br>1935 1945 1955 1965 1975 1945 1955 1965 1975 1985 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981<br>5-years birth cohorts 5-years birth cohorts 5-years birth cohorts<br>Coefficient Correlation Parents SD-years of schooling Children SD-years of schooling<br>8 8 8<br>6 6 6<br>4 4 4<br>2 2 2<br>0 0 0<br>8 8 8<br>6 6 6<br>4 4 4<br>2 2 2<br>0 0 0<br>8 8 8<br>6 6 6<br>4 4 4<br>2 2 2<br>0 0 0<br><!-- End of picture text --> The general declining trend of intergenerational elasticity ( _β_<sup>ˆ</sup> ) across cohorts partly reflects the improvement in the education systems and policies in many countries in the region. The education systems in Sub-Saharan Africa expanded substantially after independence in the 1960s, which almost doubled primary-school enrollments in many of the countries (Thakur, 1991). The expansion of primary education was facilitated through the expansion of public education. Government expenditure on education grew substantially during the period (UNESCO, 1970). During the decade, we observe a decline in intergenerational educational persistence in almost all countries in our sample (see, for instance the Comoros, Ghana, Guinea, and Nigeria estimates in table 4). In the 1980s, the recurrent balance of payment failures and economic regression limited the public expenditure on education. We observe a rebound in the intergenerational persistence rate in our sample countries. A revival of public education funding occurred again in the 1990s and the education systems in many countries in the region underwent dramatic policy changes. One of the most dramatic educational policy changes, for instance, was the abolition of primary school fees in Ghana, Malawi, and Uganda in the 1990s and in Benin, Burundi, Lesotho, Liberia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Zambia in the 2000s (UNESCO, 2011). In line with this, we observe a decline in intergenerational elasticity among the youngest cohorts in all countries except Malawi and Tanzania. The positive relationship between public education expenditure and individual educational attainment has been extensively documented in the literature on both developing and developed countries (Black and Devereux, 2011). Hertz et al. (2007) also provides a survey of the existing literature that reports changes in education policy and intergenerational education mobility. There is also empirical evidence that higher public expenditure on primary education is boosting education mobility across generations in many countries. Thus, it is plausible to hypothesize that our result of rising educational mobility across cohorts using intergenerational education elasticity to some extent reflects the inclusiveness of the policy changes in the region to create equal educational opportunities for children from different parental education backgrounds over time.

Economic theory suggests three possible drivers of intergenerational mobility across countries, namely, 17