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Heritability in the Labour Market: Evidence from Italian Twins

Author

Listed:
  • Brescianini, Sonia

    (Istituto Superiore di Sanità)

  • Cappellari, Lorenzo

    (LISER)

  • Checchi, Daniele

    (University of Milan)

Abstract

We use administrative data on educational attainments and life-time earnings to study their correlations among Italian twins. Using the ACE decomposition, we find that heritability in education accounts to almost half of the variance, especially for younger birth cohorts. With respect to labour market outcomes, we find that only for the oldest cohorts there is a greater share of inequality that can be attributed to idiosyncratic factors compared to education, and symmetrically a lower share due to genetics, while the impact of shared environment remains stable among the youngest cohorts. We suggest that increased employment flexibility may be responsible for the decline in the environmental component. Using a larger sample of pseudo-twins (individuals sharing birth date, birth place and family name) we confirm previous results, providing evidence that heritability also drives labour market attachment and prosocial behaviour.

Suggested Citation

  • Brescianini, Sonia & Cappellari, Lorenzo & Checchi, Daniele, 2024. "Heritability in the Labour Market: Evidence from Italian Twins," IZA Discussion Papers 17476, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17476
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Di Pietro, Giorgio & Cutillo, Andrea, 2008. "Degree flexibility and university drop-out: The Italian experience," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 546-555, October.
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    3. Behrman, Jere R & Taubman, Paul, 1989. "Is Schooling "Mostly in the Genes"? Nature-N urture Decomposition Using Data on Relatives," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(6), pages 1425-1446, December.
    4. Andreas Fagereng & Magne Mogstad & Marte Rønning, 2021. "Why Do Wealthy Parents Have Wealthy Children?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(3), pages 703-756.
    5. Charles F. Manski, 2011. "Genes, Eyeglasses, and Social Policy," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 25(4), pages 83-94, Fall.
    6. Daniele Checchi & Vito Peragine, 2010. "Inequality of opportunity in Italy," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 8(4), pages 429-450, December.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    heritability; inequality; labour market outcomes; Italy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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