Dynastic human capital, inequality and intergenerational mobility

We study the importance of the extended family - the dynasty - for the persistence in inequality across generations. We use data including the entire Swedish population, linking four generations. This data structure enables us to identify parents' siblings and cousins, their spouses, and the sp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Policy File 2019
Main Authors: Adermon, Adrian, Lindahl, Mikael, Palme, Marten
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
CESifo Group Munich
Children & youth/Families & family life
Economic policy
Social conditions & trends
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:We study the importance of the extended family - the dynasty - for the persistence in inequality across generations. We use data including the entire Swedish population, linking four generations. This data structure enables us to identify parents' siblings and cousins, their spouses, and the spouses' siblings. Using various human capital measures, we show that traditional parent-child estimates of intergenerational persistence miss almost one-third of the persistence found at the dynasty level. To assess the importance of genetic links, we use a sample of adoptees. We then find that the importance of the extended family relative to the parents increases.