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Cited by 2,913Intergenerational and Educational Inequality StudiesIncome, Poverty, and InequalityLabor market dynamics and wage inequality

Human Capital and the Rise and Fall of Families

Becker, Gary S., Tomes, Nigel·1986·Journal of Labor Economics
DOI 10.1086/298118
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Abstract

"This paper develops a model of the transmission of earnings, assets, and consumption from parents to descendants. The model assumes utility-maximizing parents who are concerned about the welfare of their children. The degree of intergenerational mobility is determined by the interaction of this utility-maximizing behavior with investment and consumption opportunities in different generations and with different kinds of luck. We examine a number of empirical studies for different countries. Regression to the mean in earnings in rich countries appears to be rapid. Almost all the earnings advantages or disadvantages of ancestors are wiped out in three generations." A comment by Robert J. Willis is included (pp. 40-7).

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  • The family fixed-effects design adjusts for a wide range of potential confounds at the family level, including early rearing environment, neighborhood effects, and genetic inheritance.

    “Regardless of the name, the design is implemented with the goal of adjusting for a wide range of potential confounds at the family level, factors such as the early rearing environment, neighborhood effects, and even genetic inheritance (Becker & Tomes, 1986; Heckman & Mosso, 2014).”

    From Does contact with the justice system deter or promote future delinquency? Results from a longitudinal study of British adolescent twins (2020) · cites this paper as Becker & Tomes, 1986

    “Perfect Capital Markets” (p. 5) discusses cultural and genetic attributes transmitted within families, but does not discuss a family fixed-effects design or what such a design adjusts for. A search for fixed effects and sibling comparisons found no passage linking that design to controls for rearing environment, neighborhood effects, or genetic inheritance. (LLM, conf=0.74)

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Authors
Becker, G. S., & Tomes, N.
Venue
Journal of Labor Economics
Publisher
University of Chicago Press
Published
1986-07
Volume
4
Issue
3, Part 2
Pages
S1-S39
ISSN
  • 0734-306X (ISSN-L)
  • 1537-5307
DOI
10.1086/298118
OpenAlex
W2064053908
Cited by
2,913
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 92 · 2025: 150 · 2024: 131 · 2023: 91 · 2022: 117 · 2021: 152 · 2020: 97 · 2019: 118 · 2018: 125 · 2017: 116 · 2016: 136 · 2015: 158 · 2014: 96 · 2013: 128 · 2012: 127
FWCI
35.10
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Journal of Labor Economics (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • Scholarship@Western (Western University) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Income, Poverty, and Inequality
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Labor market dynamics and wage inequality
Keywords
human capital, intergenerational mobility, intergenerational transmission, earnings, family wealth, consumption, parental investment, luck, regression to the mean, family structure
MeSH terms
Behavior, Decision Making, Economics, Family Characteristics, Financial Management, Income, Investments, Social Change, Socioeconomic Factors, Models, Economic

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