Why Children of College Graduates Outperform their Schoolmates: A Study of Cousins and Adoptees

Torbjørn Hægeland, Lars Kirkebøen, Oddbjørn Raaum and Kjell G Salvanes

No 5369, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Massive cross-sectional evidence exists indicating that children of more educated parents outperform their schoolmates. However, evidence for causal interpretation of this association is weak. We examine a causal relationship using two approaches for identification within the same data: cousins with twin parents and adopted children. We find no effect of mothers' education on children's school performance using the children-of-twins approach. However, for adopted children, mother's education has a small positive effect. Tracking the work experience of parents during offspring childhood, we find no support that this effect can be explained by a higher labor force participation among more educated mothers.

Keywords: education; intergenerational mobility; twin parents; adoptees (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 53 pages
Date: 2010-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-lab
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

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Working Paper: Why children of college graduates outperform their schoolmates. A study of cousins and adoptees (2010)
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