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The Causal Effect of Paternal Unemployment on Children's Personality

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Listed:
  • Viola Angelini
  • Marco Bertoni
  • Luca Corazzini

Abstract

Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we show that paternal unemployment has a surprisingly positive causal effect on the "Big 5" personality traits of children aged 17 to 25. In particular, our results from longitudinal value-added models for personality suggest that paternal unemployment makes children significantly more conscientious and less neurotic. Our results are robust to different estimation methods and to selection on unobservables. Furthermore, these effects are stronger for girls and for children whose mothers are employed.

Suggested Citation

  • Viola Angelini & Marco Bertoni & Luca Corazzini, 2015. "The Causal Effect of Paternal Unemployment on Children's Personality," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 795, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp795
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    personality traits; unemployment; household behavior; SOEP;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

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