Nature, nurture, and socioeconomic outcomes: New evidence from sib pairs and molecular genetic data

Gareth Markel, Jonathan Beauchamp (), Rafael Ahlskog, Joakim Coleman Ebeltoft, René Mõttus, Sven Oskarsson, Uku Vainik and Eivind Ystrom
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Gareth Markel: George Mason University
Jonathan Beauchamp: George Mason University
Rafael Ahlskog: Uppsala University
Joakim Coleman Ebeltoft: University of Oslo
René Mõttus: Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh
Sven Oskarsson: Department of Government
Uku Vainik: University of Tartu
Eivind Ystrom: University of Oslo

No 2025-004, Working Papers from Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group

Abstract: A consequence of Mendel’s First Law is that siblings’ genetic relatedness varies randomly (with a mean of 50% and a standard deviation of ∼4%). We use molecular genetic data to compute the genetic relatedness of ∼80,000 sib pairs. We then compare the pairs’ genetic relatedness to their similarity on 15 outcomes in the cognitive and educational, labor market, risk taking, health, and anthropometric domains, to estimate the relative importance of genetic (i.e., heritability) and family environmental influences on each outcome. We find evidence of sizeable genetic influences on risk tolerance, subjective wellbeing, cognitive performance, height, and BMI, and robust evidence of family environmental influences on educational attainment and labor market outcomes.

Keywords: heritability; family environment; molecular genetics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A12 I12 J24 J30 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lma and nep-neu
Note: MIP
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http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Markel ... socioec-outcomes.pdf First version, April 25, 2025 (application/pdf)

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