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Heritability and public policy reconsidered, again

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  • Cornelius A. Rietveld

    (Erasmus School of Economics)

Abstract

I offer a way out of the Taubman-Goldberger controversy on the public policy (ir)relevance of heritability studies by arguing for a quasi-experimentally controlled comparison of the estimates that these studies provide. If the environments individuals are exposed to are under such control, changes in the genetic and the common environment (family) variance components underlying inter-individual differences can be ex-post informative regarding the evolvement of sources of inequalities in a population. Using administrative data from the Netherlands, I empirically illustrate this reappraisal of heritability studies by estimating two different gene-environment interactions in test scores from a high- stakes national educational achievement test.

Suggested Citation

  • Cornelius A. Rietveld, 2024. "Heritability and public policy reconsidered, again," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 24-012/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20240012
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy

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