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Heritability of education rises with intergenerational mobility

Author

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  • Per Engzell

    (Nuffield College, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 1NF, United Kingdom; Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 1JD, United Kingdom; Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Felix C. Tropf

    (Nuffield College, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 1NF, United Kingdom; Laboratoire de Sociologie Quantitative, École Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Administration Économique, 99120 Palaiseau, France; Department of Sociology, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics, 99120 Palaiseau, France)

Abstract

As an indicator of educational opportunity, social scientists have studied intergenerational mobility—the degree to which children’s attainment depends on that of their parents—and how it varies across place or time. We combine this research with behavior genetics to show that societal variation in mobility is rooted in family advantages that siblings share over and above genetic transmission. In societies with high intergenerational mobility, less variance in educational attainment is attributable to the shared sibling environment. Variance due to genetic factors is largely constant, but its share as a part of total variance, heritability, rises with mobility. Our results suggest that environmental differences underlie variation in intergenerational mobility, and that there is no tension between egalitarian policies and the realization of individual genetic potential.

Suggested Citation

  • Per Engzell & Felix C. Tropf, 2019. "Heritability of education rises with intergenerational mobility," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116(51), pages 25386-25388, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nas:journl:v:116:y:2019:p:25386-25388
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    Cited by:

    1. Tamayo Martinez, Nathalie & Serdarevic, Fadila & Tahirovic, Emin & Daenekindt, Stijn & Keizer, Renske & Jansen, Pauline W. & Tiemeier, Henning, 2024. "What maternal educational mobility tells us about the mother’s parenting routines, offspring school achievement and intelligence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 345(C).
    2. van der Weide, Roy & Lakner, Christoph & Mahler, Daniel Gerszon & Narayan, Ambar & Gupta, Rakesh, 2024. "Intergenerational mobility around the world: A new database," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    3. Valentina S. Consiglio & Denisa M. Sologon, 2022. "The Myth of Equal Opportunity in Germany? Wage Inequality and the Role of (Non-)academic Family Background for Differences in Capital Endowments and Returns on the Labour Market," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 455-493, January.

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