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IQ and Family Background: Are Associations Strong or Weak?

Author

Listed:
  • Björklund, Anders

    (SOFI, Stockholm University)

  • Hederos Eriksson, Karin

    (SOFI, Stockholm University)

  • Jäntti, Markus

    (SOFI, Stockholm University)

Abstract

For the purpose of understanding the underlying mechanisms behind intergenerational associations in income and education, recent studies have explored the intergenerational transmission of abilities. We use a large representative sample of Swedish men to examine both intergenerational and sibling correlations in IQ. Since siblings share both parental factors and neighbourhood influences, the sibling correlation is a broader measure of the importance of family background than the intergenerational correlation. We use IQ data from the Swedish military enlistment tests. The correlation in IQ between fathers (born 1951-1956) and sons (born 1966-1980) is estimated to 0.347. The corresponding estimate for brothers (born 1951-1968) is 0.473, suggesting that family background explains approximately 50% of a person's IQ. Estimating sibling correlations in IQ we thus find that family background has a substantially larger impact on IQ than has been indicated by previous studies examining only intergenerational correlations in IQ.

Suggested Citation

  • Björklund, Anders & Hederos Eriksson, Karin & Jäntti, Markus, 2009. "IQ and Family Background: Are Associations Strong or Weak?," IZA Discussion Papers 4305, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4305
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Black, Sandra E. & Devereux, Paul J. & Salvanes, Kjell G., 2009. "Like father, like son? A note on the intergenerational transmission of IQ scores," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 105(1), pages 138-140, October.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    intergenerational mobility; family background; ability;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J0 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General
    • I0 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - General
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics

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