Journal article
GENES, EDUCATION, AND LABOR MARKET OUTCOMES: EVIDENCE FROM THE HEALTH AND RETIREMENT STUDY
Journal of the European Economic Association, Vol.18(3), pp.1351-1399
06/01/2020
DOI: 10.1093/jeea/jvz072
PMCID: PMC7297142
PMID: 32587483
Abstract
Recent advances have led to the discovery of specific genetic variants that predict educational attainment. We study how these variants, summarized as a linear index-known as a polygenic score-are associated with human capital accumulation and labor market outcomes in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). We present two main sets of results. First, we find evidence that the genetic factors measured by this score interact strongly with childhood socioeconomic status in determining educational outcomes. In particular, although the polygenic score predicts higher rates of college graduation on average, this relationship is substantially stronger for individuals who grew up in households with higher socioeconomic status relative to those who grew up in poorer households. Second, the polygenic score predicts labor earnings even after adjusting for completed education, with larger returns in more recent decades. These patterns suggest that the genetic traits that promote education might allow workers to better accommodate ongoing skill biased technological change. Consistent with this interpretation, we find a positive association between the polygenic score and nonroutine analytic tasks that have benefited from the introduction of new technologies. Nonetheless, the college premium remains a dominant determinant of earnings differences at all levels of the polygenic score. Given the role of childhood SES in predicting college attainment, this raises concerns about wasted potential arising from limited household resources.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- GENES, EDUCATION, AND LABOR MARKET OUTCOMES: EVIDENCE FROM THE HEALTH AND RETIREMENT STUDY
- Creators
- Nicholas W. Papageorge - Johns Hopkins UniversityKevin Thom - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of the European Economic Association, Vol.18(3), pp.1351-1399
- DOI
- 10.1093/jeea/jvz072
- PMID
- 32587483
- PMCID
- PMC7297142
- NLM abbreviation
- J Eur Econ Assoc
- ISSN
- 1542-4766
- eISSN
- 1542-4774
- Publisher
- Oxford Univ Press
- Number of pages
- 49
- Grant note
- RF1AG055654 / National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA)
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 06/01/2020
- Academic Unit
- Economics
- Record Identifier
- 9984936813502771
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