Working Paper: NBER ID: w2282
Authors: Gary Solon; Mary Corcoran; Roger Gordon; Deborah Laren
Abstract: Numerous previous studies have used sibling correlations to measure the importance of family background as a determinant of economic status. These studies. however. have been biased by several flaws: failure to separate permanent from transitory status variation (including that from measurement error). failure to account for life-cycle stage. and overly homogeneous samples. This paper presents a methodology to address these problems and applies it to longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Our main conclusion is that family background appears to exert greater influence on economic status than has been indicated by earlier research.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: No JEL codes provided
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| family background (J12) | economic status (P46) |
| sibling correlation in permanent economic status (J12) | family background (J12) |
| methodological flaws (C90) | sibling correlation estimates (C10) |
| lower family background deciles (I24) | expected permanent earnings (J17) |