Health Endowments, Schooling Allocation in the Family, and Longevity: Evidence from US Twins

Peter Savelyev (), Benjamin C. Ward, Robert F. Krueger and Matt McGue
Additional contact information
Benjamin C. Ward: University of Georgia
Robert F. Krueger: University of Minnesota
Matt McGue: University of Minnesota

No 14600, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We analyze data from the Minnesota Twin Registry (MTR), combined with the Socioeconomic Survey of Twins (SST), and new mortality data, and contribute to two bodies of literature. First, we demonstrate a beneficial causal effect of education on health and longevity in contrast to other twin-based studies of the US population, which show little or no effect of education on health. Second, we present evidence that parents compensate for differences in their children's health endowments through education, but find no evidence that parents reinforce differences in skill endowments. We argue that there is a bias towards detecting reinforcement both in this paper and in the literature. Despite this bias, we still find statistical evidence of compensating behavior. We account for observed and unobserved confounding factors, sample selection bias, and measurement error in education.

Keywords: skill endowment; longevity; health endowment; twin study; Minnesota Twin Registry; intrafamily resource allocation; education; health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 I14 I24 J13 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 52 pages
Date: 2021-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-hea and nep-isf
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Published - published in: Journal of Health Economics, 2022, 81, 102554

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Related works:
Journal Article: Health endowments, schooling allocation in the family, and longevity: Evidence from US twins (2022)
Working Paper: Health Endowments, Schooling Allocation in the Family, and Longevity: Evidence from US Twins (2020)
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