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A test of the Becker-Tomes model of human capital transmission using microdata on four generations

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  • Lindahl, Mikael

    (Uppsala University, CESifo, IFAU, IZA and UCLS)

  • Palme, Mårten

    (Dept. of Economics, Stockholm University)

  • Sandgren Massih, Sofia

    (Uppsala University)

  • Sjögren, Anna

    (IFAU, UCLS and SOFI Stockholm University)

Abstract

We estimate the well-known Becker-Tomes (1986) model of intergenerational transmission of human capital. A Swedish data set which links individual measures on educational attainments of four generations, enables us to use great grandparents’ education as an instrumental variable. This approach was suggested already in Becker- Tomes (1986) but, because of the lack of data, never implemented. The identifying assumption, which holds within the Becker-Tomes framework, is that great grandparents’ education is unrelated to great grandchild’s education, conditional on the education of the parent and grandparent. We test the prediction that the structural parameter for grandparents’ education enters with a negative sign in an intergenerational regression model where the education of a child is linearly related to the education of the parent and the education of the grandparent. We fail to find empirical support for the model’s predictions.

Suggested Citation

  • Lindahl, Mikael & Palme, Mårten & Sandgren Massih, Sofia & Sjögren, Anna, 2013. "A test of the Becker-Tomes model of human capital transmission using microdata on four generations," Research Papers in Economics 2013:2, Stockholm University, Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:hhs:sunrpe:2013_0002
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    Cited by:

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    2. Bernt Bratsberg & Simen Markussen & Oddbjørn Raaum & Knut Røed & Ole Røgeberg, 2023. "Trends in Assortative Mating and Offspring Outcomes," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(651), pages 928-950.
    3. Shiue, Carol, 2019. "Social Mobility in the Long Run: A Temporal Analysis of China from 1300 to 1900," CEPR Discussion Papers 13589, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
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    6. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2015. "New Theoretical Perspectives on the Distribution of Income and Wealth among Individuals: Part II: Equilibrium Wealth Distributions," NBER Working Papers 21190, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Kelly Vosters & Jørgen Modalsli, 2019. "Spillover bias in multigenerational income regressions," Discussion Papers 897, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    8. Hector Moreno, 2021. "The Influence of Parental and Grandparental Education in the Transmission of Human Capital," Working Papers 588, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    9. Steven B. Caudill & Stephanie O. Crofton & João Ricardo Faria & Neela D. Manage & Franklin G. Mixon & Mary Greer Simonton, 2020. "Property confiscation and the intergenerational transmission of education in post-1948 Eastern Europe," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 184(1), pages 1-41, July.
    10. Juan Cañada Vicinay, 2015. "Coyuntura económica y dotación social en la ecuación intergeneracional de Becker Tomes. Una estimación para España 2002-2013," Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación volume 10, in: Marta Rahona López & Jennifer Graves (ed.), Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación 10, edition 1, volume 10, chapter 40, pages 793-810, Asociación de Economía de la Educación.
    11. A. Hector Moreno M., 2018. "Good things come in threes: multigenerational transmission of human capital," PSE Working Papers halshs-01945784, HAL.
    12. Mikael Lindahl & Mårten Palme & Sofia Sandgren Massih & Anna Sjögren, 2015. "Long-Term Intergenerational Persistence of Human Capital: An Empirical Analysis of Four Generations," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(1), pages 1-33.
    13. Nicolas Fleury & Fabrice Gilles, 2015. "A meta-regression analysis on intergenerational transmission of education: publication bias and genuine empirical effect," TEPP Working Paper 2015-02, TEPP.
    14. Nicolas Fleury & Fabrice Gilles, 2018. "The intergenerational transmission of education. A meta-regression analysis," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(6), pages 557-573, November.
    15. Pablo Celhay & Sebastian Gallegos, 2023. "Educational Mobility Across Three Generations in Latin American Countries," Working Papers 2023-013, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    16. Colagrossi, Marco & d’Hombres, Béatrice & Schnepf, Sylke V, 2020. "Like (grand)parent, like child? Multigenerational mobility across the EU," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    17. Pablo Celhay & Sebasti�n Gallegos, 2015. "Persistence in the Transmission of Education: Evidence across Three Generations for Chile," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 420-451, August.
    18. Jun, Bogang & Kaltenberg, Mary & Hwang, Won-sik, 2017. "How inequality hurts growth: Revisiting the Galor-Zeira model through a Korean case," MERIT Working Papers 2017-034, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    The Becker-Tomes model; Human capital transmission; Multigenerational effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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