Skip to main content

Vive la revolution! Long-term educational returns of 1968 to the angry students

Eric Maurin and Sandra McNally


The famous events of May 1968, starting with student riots, threw France into a state of turmoil. As a result, normal examination procedures were abandoned, and the pass rate for various qualifications increased enormously. The lowering of thresholds at critical stages of the education system enabled a proportion of students to pursue more years of higher education than would otherwise have been possible. For those on the margin of passing their examinations, additional years of higher education increased future wages and occupational levels. Interestingly, the effect is also transmitted across generations and is reflected in the educational performance of children.


1 January 2008


Journal of Labor Economics 26(1) 2008


DOI: 10.1086/522071

https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/522071

This Journal article is published under the centre's Education programme.

This publication comes under the following theme: Higher education