RGP Cycle Three Grantees and Projects

Samer Atallah: Wealth and Educational Inequality: Evidence from Egypt

This research project addresses the dual relationship between wealth inequality and educational inequality by using Egypt as a case study. It uses two nationwide household surveys to test for the effect of family background socioeconomic characteristics on schooling attainment. It particularly looks at the impact of household endowment either in the form of land or dwelling or other income earning assets. It also tests for plausible channels through which parents' education affect the standard of living of the next generation. These studies add to the literature on intergenerational mobility and educational attainment by studying the impact of wealth in the case of Egypt. The project will also include a policy paper that will suggest policy direction and design based on the research results.

Samer Atallah is an Assistant Professor of economics at the School of Business of the American University in Cairo since 2011. He was a visiting scholar at the University of Chicago Center in Paris during the winter of 2014.
He has earned his PhD and Masters of Arts in economics from McGill University. The title of his PhD thesis is “Essays on resource-dependent economies: Political economy and strategic behavior”. He also holds a Masters of Science from University of California at Berkeley.
His research interests are in development economics and political economy. His research work in development economics covers intergenerational mobility, education policy and quantitative analysis of household surveys. His research also covers game theory applications on the political economy of democratization and quantitative analysis of election results. He is a member of the Canadian Economics Association and the Middle East Economic Association.