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Is Parental Love Colorblind? Human Capital Accumulation within Mixed Families

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  • Marcos Rangel

Abstract

Studies have shown that differences in wage-determinant skills between blacks and whites emerge during a child’s infancy, highlighting the roles of parental characteristics and investment decisions. Exploring the genetics of skin-color and models of intrahousehold allocations, I present evidence that, controlling for observed and unobserved parental characteristics, light-skinned children are more likely to receive investments in formal education than their dark-skinned siblings. Conscious parental decisions regarding human capital acquisition for their children seem to contribute for the persistence of earnings differentials and socio-economic stratification in Brazil. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

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  • Marcos Rangel, 2015. "Is Parental Love Colorblind? Human Capital Accumulation within Mixed Families," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 42(1), pages 57-86, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:blkpoe:v:42:y:2015:i:1:p:57-86
    DOI: 10.1007/s12114-014-9190-1
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    Cited by:

    1. Raymundo M. Campos-Vazquez & Eduardo M. Medina-Cortina, 2019. "Skin Color and Social Mobility: Evidence From Mexico," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(1), pages 321-343, February.
    2. Letícia J. Marteleto & Molly Dondero, 2016. "Racial Inequality in Education in Brazil: A Twins Fixed-Effects Approach," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(4), pages 1185-1205, August.
    3. Ramya M. Vijaya & Naureen Bhullar, 2022. "Colorism and employment bias in India: an experimental study in stratification economics," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 599-628, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Intrahousehold allocations; Skin-color and racial differentials; Parental investments in children; D13; D31 J13; J15; J71;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

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