Intergenerational Persistence of Earnings: The Role of Early and College Education

Diego Restuccia and Carlos Urrutia ()

American Economic Review, 2004, vol. 94, issue 5, 1354-1378

Abstract: Recent empirical evidence from the United States indicates a high degree of persistence in earnings across generations. Designing effective public policies to increase social mobility requires identifying and measuring the major sources of persistence and inequality in earnings. We provide a quantitative model of intergenerational human capital transmission that focuses on three sources: innate ability, early education, and college education. We find that approximately one-half of the intergenerational correlation in earnings is accounted for by parental investment in education, in particular early education. We show that these results have important implications for education policy.

Date: 2004
Note: DOI: 10.1257/0002828043052213
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Working Paper: Intergenerational Persistence of Earnings: The Role of Early and College Education (2002)
Working Paper: Intergenerational Persistence of Earnings: The Role of Early and College Education (2002)
Working Paper: Intergenerational Persistence of Earnings: The Role of Early and College Education (2002)
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