Long-Term Intergenerational Persistence of Human Capital: An Empirical Analysis of Four Generations
Abstract
Most previous studies of intergenerational transmission of human capital are restricted to two generations – parents and their children. In this study we use a Swedish data set which enables us link individual measures of lifetime earnings for three generations and data on educational attainments of four generations. We investigate to what extent estimates based on income data from two generations accurately predict earnings persistence beyond two generations. We also do a similar analysis for intergenerational persistence in educational attainments. We find two-generation studies to severely under-predict intergenerational persistence in earnings and educational attainment over three and four generations.
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Educational inequality is surprisingly persistent across multiple generations.
“The second finding is that educational inequality is surprisingly persistent across multiple generations.”
From Educational Inequality* (2022) · cites this paper as Lindahl et al. 2015
Recent empirical evidence shows that differences in economic status across families persist over many generations.
“Yet, recent empirical evidence shows that differences in economic status across families instead persist over many generations (e.g., Clark 2014, Lindahl et al. 2015).”
From Educational Inequality* (2022) · cites this paper as Lindahl et al. 2015
Educational outcomes of ancestors remain predictive of child education, even after conditioning on parent education.
“One way to demonstrate this point is to note that educational outcomes of ancestors remain predictive of child education, even after conditioning on parent education (e.g., Lindahl et al. 2015, Braun and Stuhler 2018, Colagrossi, d'Hombres, and Schnepf 2020).”
From Educational Inequality* (2022) · cites this paper as Lindahl et al. 2015
Cites
A Multigenerational View of Inequality
Mare, R. D. (2011) · Demography · doi:10.1007/s13524-011-0014-7 · Cited by 410 · see citing works
Social Stratification across Three Generations: New Evidence from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study
Warren, J. R., & Hauser, R. M. (1997) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2657426 · Cited by 227 · see citing works
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Grand Advantage: Family Wealth and Grandchildren’s Educational Achievement in Sweden
Hällsten, M., & Pfeffer, F. T. (2017) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.1177/0003122417695791 · Cited by 187 · see citing works
Do grandparents matter? A multigenerational perspective on educational attainment in Taiwan
Chiang, Y.-L., & Park, H. (2015) · Social Science Research · doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2014.09.013 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Blanden, J., Doepke, M., & Stuhler, J. (2022) · National Bureau of Economic Research · doi:10.3386/w29979 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
- Authors
- Lindahl, M., Palme, M., Massih, S. S., & Sjögren, A.
- Affiliations
- Uppsala University (SE)
- ORCID
- Lindahl, Mikael
- Venue
- Journal of Human Resources
- Publisher
- University of Wisconsin Press
- Published
- 2015
- Volume
- 50
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1-33
- ISSN
- 0022-166X (ISSN-L)
- 1548-8004
- OpenAlex
- W2007121861
- Cited by
- 182
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 57.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of Human Resources (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Labor market dynamics and wage inequality
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Cultural Dynamics
- Keywords
- intergenerational persistence, human capital, earnings persistence, educational attainment, intergenerational transmission, lifetime earnings
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