PURPOSE: To obtain an ethylene copolymer markedly improved in crosslinkability and being useful as an electrical insulating material, a crosslinked foam material, etc., by copolymerizing ethylene with a specified bicycloheptyl (meth) acrylate monomer.

CONSTITUTION: An ethylene copolymer containing 80W99.995mol% ethylene units, 0.005W5mol% monomer units of the formula and 0W15mol% units of at least another ethylenically unsaturated monomer. In the formula, R1 is H or a 1W3C alkyl, R2 is vinyl, ethylidene, isopropenyl or isopropylidene, R2 is bonded to a carbon atom at position 5 or 6 of the bicycloheptane ring, the dotted line representing a bond between R2 and the carbon atom of the bicycloheptane ring represents a single bond when R2 is vinyl or isopropenyl while a double bond when R2 is ethylidene or isopropylidene. Examples of the monomers represented by the formula include 5(or 6)-vinylbicyclo[2,2,1]hept-2 yl acrylate.