Working Paper: NBER ID: w25495
Authors: Eric Gould; Avi Simhon; Bruce A. Weinberg
Abstract: This paper examines the transmission of human capital from parents to children using variation in parental influence due to parental death, divorce, and the increasing specialization of parental roles in larger families. All three sources of variation yield strikingly similar patterns which show that the strong parent-child correlation in human capital is largely causal. In each case, the parent-child correlation in education is stronger with the parent that spends more time with the child, and weaker with the parent that spends relatively less time parenting. These findings help us understand why educated parents spend more time with their children.
Keywords: Human Capital; Parental Education; Child Outcomes; Parental Death; Divorce
JEL Codes: I21; J13; J24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Parental education (I24) | Child human capital (J24) |
| Mother's death (J12) | Importance of mother's education in child human capital (J24) |
| Mother's death (J12) | Importance of father's education in child human capital (I24) |
| Parental divorce (J12) | Importance of mother's education in divorced families (J12) |
| Parental divorce (J12) | Importance of father's education in divorced families (J12) |
| Losing a parent before age 18 (J17) | Educational outcomes (I21) |
| Losing a parent after age 18 (J17) | Educational outcomes (I21) |
| Larger families (J12) | Impact of mother's education on child outcomes (I24) |