The role of childhood health for the intergenerational transmission of human capital: Evidence from administrative data

Martin Salm and Daniel Schunk ()

No 8164, MEA discussion paper series from Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging (MEA), University of Mannheim

Abstract: We use unique administrative German data to examine the role of childhood health for the intergenerational transmission of human capital. Specifically, we examine the extent to which a comprehensive list of health conditions – diagnosed by government physicians – can account for developmental gaps between the children of college educated parents and those of less educated parents. In total, health conditions explain 18% of the gap in cognitive ability and 65% of that in language ability, based on estimations with sibling fixed effects. Thus, policies aimed at reducing disparities in child achievement should also focus on improving the health of disadvantaged children.

JEL-codes: J13 I20 I12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008-09-02
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Working Paper: The Role of Childhood Health for the Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital: Evidence from Administrative Data (2008)
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