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Cited by 320

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 63 of the 63 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Galton versus the Human Capital Approach to Inheritance

Mulligan, Casey B.·1999·Journal of Political Economy

Abstract

A century ago, Francis Galton proposed a simple yet powerful model of inheritance. Gary Backer's human capital model is often used to analyze important empirical and policy questions, but does it dominate Galton's from a positive point of view? I derive nine implicatiions of the human capital approach that are distinct from Galton's. Evidence from the PIS, SCF, and NLSY micro data sets as well as results reported in previous literatures suggest that four of the unique implications are refuted. two implications are verified, and mixed results are obtained for three others. Some extensions of economics recently developed by Becker and others, when applied to inheritance, may improve economics' predictions.

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Metadata

Authors
Mulligan, C. B.
Venue
Journal of Political Economy
Published
1999-12
Volume
107
Issue
S6
Pages
S184-S224
ISSN
  • 0022-3808 (ISSN-L)
  • 1537-534X
OpenAlex
W2039671123
Cited by
320
References
63
FWCI
8.72
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Galton versus the Human Capital Approach to Inheritance. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1086/250108
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Mulligan, C. B. (1999). Galton versus the Human Capital Approach to Inheritance. Journal of Political Economy. https://doi.org/10.1086/250108

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