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The Inheritance of Economic Status: Education, Class, and Genetics

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Author Info
Samuel Bowles
Herbert Gintis

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Abstract

The perpetuation of a family's position in the distribution of income from parents to children reflects the genetic and cultural transmission of individual traits, as well as the inheritance of group memberships and income-earning assets. We show that the extent of intergenerational economic status transmission is considerably greater than was thought to be the case a generation ago, the genetic inheritance of traits contributing to the cognitive skills measured on IQ and related tests explains very little of the intergenerational transmission of economic status, even if the heritability of IQ is quite high, and the combined genetic and cultural inheritance processes operating through superior wealth, cognitive levels, and educational attainments of those with well-off parents, while important, do not fully explain the intergenerational transmission of economic status. We identify some overlooked idividual traits that enhance economic success that are transmitted across generations.

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Paper provided by Santa Fe Institute in its series Working Papers with number 01-01-005.

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Date of creation: Jan 2001
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Handle: RePEc:wop:safiwp:01-01-005

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  1. Alan Krueger & Orley Ashenfelter, 1992. "Estimates of the Economic Return to Schooling from a New Sample of Twins," NBER Working Papers 4143, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. George J. Borjas, 1994. "Ethnicity, Neighborhoods, and Human Capital Externalities," NBER Working Papers 4912, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Gintis, Herbert, 1971. "Education, Technology, and the Characteristics of Worker Productivity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 61(2), pages 266-79, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Galor, Oded & Zeira, Joseph, 1993. "Income Distribution and Macroeconomics," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 60(1), pages 35-52, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. repec:att:wimass:199711r is not listed on IDEAS
  6. Becker, Gary S & Tomes, Nigel, 1986. "Human Capital and the Rise and Fall of Families," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(3), pages S1-39, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Goldberger, Arthur S, 1989. "Economic and Mechanical Models of Intergenerational Transmission," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(3), pages 504-13, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. repec:att:wimass:199329 is not listed on IDEAS
  9. Solon, Gary, 1992. "Intergenerational Income Mobility in the United States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(3), pages 393-408, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. repec:att:wimass:199711 is not listed on IDEAS
  11. Steven N. Durlauf, 1997. "The Memberships Theory of Inequality: Ideas and Implications," Research in Economics 97-05-047e, Santa Fe Institute.
  12. Bowles, Samuel, 1972. "Schooling and Inequality from Generation to Generation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(3), pages S219-S51, Part II, . [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Goldberger, A.S., 1989. "Economic And Mechanical Models Of Intergenerational Transmission," Working papers 374, Wisconsin Madison - Social Systems.
  14. Anders Björklund & Markus Jäntti, 2000. "Intergenerational mobility of socio-economic status in comparative perspective," Nordic Journal of Political Economy, Nordic Journal of Political Economy, vol. 26, pages 3-32. [Downloadable!]
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  1. Dilip Mookherjee & Debraj Ray, 2002. "Is Equality Stable?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 253-259, May. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Susan E. Mayer & Leonard M. Lopoo, 2001. "Has the Intergenerational Transmission of Economic Status Changed?," Working Papers 0116, Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago. [Downloadable!]
  3. Simon Burgess & Karen Gardiner & Carol Propper, 2006. "School, Family and County Effects on Adolescents’ Later Life Chances," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 155-184, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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