Genes, Education, and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

Nicholas Papageorge and Kevin Thom
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Kevin Thom: New York University

No 17-273, Upjohn Working Papers from W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research

Abstract: Recent advances have led to the discovery of specific genetic variants that predict educational attainment. We study how these variants, summarized as a genetic score variable, are associated with human capital accumulation and labor market outcomes in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). We demonstrate that the same genetic score that predicts education is also associated with higher wages, but only among individuals with a college education. Moreover, the genetic gradient in wages has grown in more recent birth cohorts, consistent with interactions between technological change and labor market ability. We also show that individuals who grew up in economically disadvantaged households are less likely to go to college when compared to individuals with the same genetic score, but from higher socioeconomic status households. Our findings provide support for the idea that childhood socioeconomic status is an important moderator of the economic returns to genetic endowments. Moreover, the finding that childhood poverty limits the educational attainment of high-ability individuals suggests the existence of unrealized human potential.

Keywords: Human capital; inequality; education; genes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I24 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-edu, nep-lma and nep-ltv
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Genes, Education, and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study (2020)
Working Paper: Genes, Education, and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study (2018)
Working Paper: Genes, Education, and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study (2018)
Working Paper: Genes, Education, and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study (2016)
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