Schooling, family background, and adoption: Is it nature or is it nurture?

When parents are more educated, their children tend to receive more schooling as well. Does this occur because parental ability is passed on genetically or because more educated parents provide a better environment for children to flourish? Using an intergenerational sample of families, we estimate...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of political economy 2003-06, Vol.111 (3), p.611-641
Main Authors: Plug, Erik, Vijverberg, Wim
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adopted children
Adoption
Adoptive parents
Bildungsniveau
Bildungsverhalten
Child adoption
Children
Children & youth
Economic models
Economic theory
Economists
Education
Education policy
Educational attainment
Familiensoziologie
Families & family life
Family
Family income
Genetics
Human capital
Inequality
Intelligence quotient
Longitudinal studies
Nature
Nature versus nurture
Nurture
Parents
Parents & parenting
Political economy
Schooling
Schätzung
Siblings
Social conditions & trends
Social research
Studies
Twins
USA
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Summary:When parents are more educated, their children tend to receive more schooling as well. Does this occur because parental ability is passed on genetically or because more educated parents provide a better environment for children to flourish? Using an intergenerational sample of families, we estimate on the basis of a comparison of biological and adopted children that about 55–60 percent of the parental ability is genetically transmitted.
ISSN:0047-2697
0022-3808
1537-534X
DOI:10.1086/374185