An Extended Family Perspective on Intergenerational Human Capital Transmission in China

Wei Zou and Ruiqi Ma ()
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Wei Zou: Wuhan University
Ruiqi Ma: Wuhan University

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, 2024, vol. 174, issue 3, No 13, 1139 pages

Abstract: Abstract Intergenerational transmission is a crucial indicator for measuring the equality of opportunities in society. Higher levels of intergenerational transmission can suppress individual efforts and have severe negative impacts on various aspects such as distribution, growth, and innovation. This paper synthesises theoretical and empirical work on intergenerational human capital transmission from an extended family perspective in China. The majority of existent literature on intergenerational transmission only explores the correlation of parents and their own offspring in aspects of income or social status, and may lead to underestimation of the level of intergenerational transmission in society since it negelcts the potential impacts from clan networks. Building on the theoretical analysis, the study is designed to build up an extended family framework and provide insights into the overall intergenerational transmission of human capital in China, where historical tradition is deeprooted and clan networks are closely linked, using (CHIP) Chinese Household Income Project Survey, a longitudinal household-level dataset. We compile data from extended families including parents and grandparents, as well as parents’ siblings, and estimate the intergenerational transmission of human capital with two different measures, the schooling years and an index of occupational status. Our main findings show that the traditional parent–child intergenerational transmission model represents the lower bound of the intergenerational transmission coefficient, and parental siblings have a significant and positive effect on offspring’s human capital attainment, and the results remain solid after a bunch of robustness tests. We find significant heterogeneity in the intergenerational transmission of human capital by gender, birth cohorts or rural–urban residency. The multigenerational effects of grandparents on descendants are not significant after controlling for the human capital levels of parents and their siblings. Using a sample of non-biological offspring as a comparison group, we find that the acquired family environment plays a more significant role than innate genes. Fundamentally, this study helps establish policies to enhance intergenerational mobility and social opportunities.

Keywords: Intergenerational transmission; Human capital; Extended family; Clan networks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I24 J12 J62 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s11205-024-03427-3

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