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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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    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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