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Rich Dad, Smart Dad: Decomposing the Intergenerational Transmission of Income

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Abstract
We construct a simple model, consistent with Becker and Tomes (1979), that decomposes the intergenerational income elasticity into the causal effect of financial resources, the mechanistic transmission of human capital, and the role that human capital plays in the determination of father’s permanent income. We show how a particular set of instrumental variables could separately identify the money and human capital transmission effects. We further outline two instrumental variables methods for bounding the structural parameters of our model in the presence of imperfect instruments. Using data from a thirty-five percent sample of Swedish sons and their fathers, we show that only a minority of the intergenerational income elasticity can be plausibly attributed to the causal effect of fathers’ financial resources.

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  • Lefgren, Lars & Lindquist, Matthew & Sims, David, 2009. "Rich Dad, Smart Dad: Decomposing the Intergenerational Transmission of Income," Research Papers in Economics 2009:19, Stockholm University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:sunrpe:2009_0019
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    financial resources; human capital; intergenerational income elasticity; intergenerational mobility; permanent income;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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