The long-lasting effects of family background: A European cross-country comparison

B-Tier
Journal: Economics of Education Review
Year: 2014
Volume: 40
Issue: C
Pages: 25-42

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This paper investigates how and to what extent the association between family socio-economic status (SES) during childhood and old age health, income and cognition varies across 11 European countries. It uses the Survey on Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and SHARELIFE, which collects retrospective information on respondents’ family backgrounds during their childhood. We also analyze which factors lead to intergenerational persistence of human capital by accounting for childhood health and school performance, education and labor market outcomes. The results show a strong relationship between family SES during childhood and old age outcomes and a large cross-country heterogeneity. Education appears as the main channel for this gradient and explains most of the estimated cross-country heterogeneity. Moreover, we show evidence of a strong correlation between income inequality and our estimates of intergenerational persistence of human capital.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:ecoedu:v:40:y:2014:i:c:p:25-42
Journal Field
Education
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-25