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A Test of the Becker-Tomes Model of Human Capital Transmission Using Microdata on Four Generations

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  • Mikael Lindahl
  • Mårten Palme
  • Sofia Sandgren-Massih
  • Anna Sjögren

Abstract

We estimate the well-known Becker-Tomes model of intergenerational transmission of human capital. A Swedish data set, which links individual measures on educational attainments of four generations, enables us to use great-grandparents' education as an instrumental variable. The identifying assumption, which holds within the Becker-Tomes framework, is that great-grandparents' education is unrelated to great-grandchildren's education, conditional on the education of the parent and grandparent. We test the model's prediction that the structural parameter for grandparents' education enters with a negative sign in an intergenerational regression model.

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  • Mikael Lindahl & Mårten Palme & Sofia Sandgren-Massih & Anna Sjögren, 2014. "A Test of the Becker-Tomes Model of Human Capital Transmission Using Microdata on Four Generations," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 8(1), pages 80-96.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jhucap:doi:10.1086/674104
    DOI: 10.1086/674104
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    1. Anders Björklund & Mikael Lindahl & Erik Plug, 2006. "The Origins of Intergenerational Associations: Lessons from Swedish Adoption Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 121(3), pages 999-1028.
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    8. Casey B. Mulligan, 1999. "Galton versus the Human Capital Approach to Inheritance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(S6), pages 184-224, December.
    9. Helena Holmlund & Mikael Lindahl & Erik Plug, 2011. "The Causal Effect of Parents' Schooling on Children's Schooling: A Comparison of Estimation Methods," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(3), pages 615-651, September.
    10. Lindahl, Mikael & Palme, Mårten & Sandgren Massih, Sofia & Sjögren, Anna, 2012. "The intergenerational persistence of human capital: an empirical analysis of four generations," Working Paper Series 2012:12, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    11. Stuhler, Jan, 2012. "Mobility Across Multiple Generations: The Iterated Regression Fallacy," IZA Discussion Papers 7072, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Nybom, Martin & Stuhler, Jan, 2013. "Interpreting Trends in Intergenerational Income Mobility," IZA Discussion Papers 7514, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Lars Lefgren & Matthew J. Lindquist & David Sims, 2012. "Rich Dad, Smart Dad: Decomposing the Intergenerational Transmission of Income," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 120(2), pages 268-303.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Bernt Bratsberg & Simen Markussen & Oddbjørn Raaum & Knut Røed & Ole Røgeberg, 2023. "Trends in Assortative Mating and Offspring Outcomes," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(651), pages 928-950.
    3. Shiue, Carol, 2019. "Social Mobility in the Long Run: A Temporal Analysis of China from 1300 to 1900," CEPR Discussion Papers 13589, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Dionissi Aliprantis & Daniel R. Carroll, 2018. "Neighborhood dynamics and the distribution of opportunity," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 9(1), pages 247-303, March.
    5. Adrian Adermon & Mikael Lindahl & Daniel Waldenström, 2018. "Intergenerational Wealth Mobility and the Role of Inheritance: Evidence from Multiple Generations," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(612), pages 482-513, July.
    6. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2015. "New Theoretical Perspectives on the Distribution of Income and Wealth among Individuals: Part II: Equilibrium Wealth Distributions," NBER Working Papers 21190, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Hector Moreno, 2021. "The Influence of Parental and Grandparental Education in the Transmission of Human Capital," Working Papers 588, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    8. Juan Cañada Vicinay, 2015. "Coyuntura económica y dotación social en la ecuación intergeneracional de Becker Tomes. Una estimación para España 2002-2013," Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación volume 10, in: Marta Rahona López & Jennifer Graves (ed.), Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación 10, edition 1, volume 10, chapter 40, pages 793-810, Asociación de Economía de la Educación.
    9. Mikael Lindahl & Mårten Palme & Sofia Sandgren Massih & Anna Sjögren, 2015. "Long-Term Intergenerational Persistence of Human Capital: An Empirical Analysis of Four Generations," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(1), pages 1-33.
    10. Nicolas Fleury & Fabrice Gilles, 2015. "A meta-regression analysis on intergenerational transmission of education: publication bias and genuine empirical effect," TEPP Working Paper 2015-02, TEPP.
    11. Nicolas Fleury & Fabrice Gilles, 2018. "The intergenerational transmission of education. A meta-regression analysis," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(6), pages 557-573, November.
    12. Pablo Celhay & Sebastian Gallegos, 2023. "Educational Mobility Across Three Generations in Latin American Countries," Working Papers 2023-013, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    13. Pablo Celhay & Sebasti�n Gallegos, 2015. "Persistence in the Transmission of Education: Evidence across Three Generations for Chile," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 420-451, August.
    14. A. Hector Moreno M., 2018. "Good things come in threes: multigenerational transmission of human capital," Working Papers halshs-01945784, HAL.
    15. Bogang Jun & Mary Kaltenberg & Won‐Sik Hwang, 2022. "How inequality hurts growth: Revisiting the Galor–Zeira model using the Korean case," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 56-79, February.
    16. Steven B. Caudill & Stephanie O. Crofton & João Ricardo Faria & Neela D. Manage & Franklin G. Mixon & Mary Greer Simonton, 2020. "Property confiscation and the intergenerational transmission of education in post-1948 Eastern Europe," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 184(1), pages 1-41, July.
    17. Colagrossi, Marco & d’Hombres, Béatrice & Schnepf, Sylke V, 2020. "Like (grand)parent, like child? Multigenerational mobility across the EU," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    18. Jun, Bogang & Kaltenberg, Mary & Hwang, Won-sik, 2017. "How inequality hurts growth: Revisiting the Galor-Zeira model through a Korean case," MERIT Working Papers 2017-034, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    19. Celhay, Pablo & Gallegos, Sebastian, 2024. "Schooling Mobility across Three Generations in Six Latin American Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 17072, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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