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Parental Priorities and Economic Inequality

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  • Mulligan, Casey B.

Abstract

What determines whether children grow up to be rich or poor? Arguing that parental actions are some of the most important sources of wealth inequality, Casey B. Mulligan investigates the transmission of economic status from one generation to the next by constructing an economic model of parental preferences. In Mulligan's model, parents determine the degree of their altruistic concern for their children and spend time with and resources on them accordingly—just as they might make choices about how they spend money. Mulligan tests his model against both old and new evidence on the intergenerational transmission of consumption, earnings, and wealth, including models that emphasize "financial constraints." One major prediction of Mulligan's model confirmed by the evidence is that children of wealthy parents typically spend more than they earn. Mulligan's innovative approach can also help explain other important behavior, such as charitable giving and "corporate loyalty," and will appeal to a wide range of quantitatively oriented social scientists and sociobiologists.

Suggested Citation

  • Mulligan, Casey B., 1998. "Parental Priorities and Economic Inequality," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226548395, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:bkecon:9780226548395
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    Cited by:

    1. Caballé, Jordi & Moro-Egido, Ana I., 2021. "Do aspirations reduce differences in wealth accumulation?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    2. Ummul Ruthbah & Atonu Rabbani & Salim Hossain & Golam Sarwar, 2016. "Do extra hours of tutoring payoff? Evaluation of a community education programme in Bangladesh," Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 196-215, June.
    3. Michael Hurd & James P. Smith, 2002. "Expected Bequests and Their Distribution," NBER Working Papers 9142, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Miles Corak, 2001. "Are the Kids All Right? Intergenerational Mobility and Child Well-being in Canada," The Review of Economic Performance and Social Progress, in: Andrew Sharpe, Executive Director & France St-Hilaire, Vice-President , Research & Keith Banting, Di (ed.), The Review of Economic Performance and Social Progress 2001: The Longest Decade: Canada in the 1990s, volume 1, Centre for the Study of Living Standards;The Institutute for Research on Public Policy.
    5. Benjamin Volland, 2013. "On the intergenerational transmission of preferences," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 217-249, October.

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