Empirical Strategies to Eliminate Life-Cycle Bias in the Intergenerational Elasticity of Earnings Literature

I argue that the empirical strategies for estimation of the intergenerational elasticity of lifetime earnings that are currently employed in the literature might not eliminate bias arising from lifecycle effects. Specifically, I demonstrate that procedures based on the generalized errors-invariables model suggested by Haider and Solon (2006) or the consideration of differential earnings growth rates across subpopulations may not yield unbiased or consistent estimates. I further argue that instrumental variable estimators will not identify an upper bound for the true population parameter

Is it the Family or the Neighborhood? Evidence from Sibling and Neighbor Correlations in Youth Education and Health

In this paper we present sibling and neighbor correlations in school grades and cognitive skills as well as indicators of physical and mental health for a sample of German adolescents. In a first step, we estimate sibling correlations and find substantial influence of shared family and community background on all outcomes. To further disentangle the influence of family background and neighborhood, we estimate neighbor correlations. Our results show that for all outcomes, estimated neighbor correlations are clearly lower than estimated sibling correlations. However, especially for cognitive skills and mental health, neighbor correlations are still substantial in relation to sibling correlations. Thus, compared to existing results from other countries, the influence of the neighborhood is not negligible in Germany for some outcomes

The Dynamics and Evolutionary Potential of Domain Loss and Emergence

The wealth of available genomic data presents an unrivaled opportunity to study the molecular basis of evolution. Studies on gene family expansions and site-dependent analyses have already helped establish important insights into how proteins facilitate adaptation. However, efforts to conduct full-scale cross-genomic comparisons between species are challenged by both growing amounts of data and the inherent difficulty in accurately inferring homology between deeply rooted species. Proteins, in comparison, evolve by means of domain rearrangements, a process more amenable to study given the strength of profile-based homology inference and the lower rates with which rearrangements occur. However, adapting to a constantly changing environment can require molecular modulations beyond reach of rearrangement alone. Here, we explore rates and functional implications of novel domain emergence in contrast to domain gain and loss in 20 arthropod species of the pancrustacean clade. Emerging domains are more likely disordered in structure and spread more rapidly within their genomes than established domains. Furthermore, although domain turnover occurs at lower rates than gene family turnover, we find strong evidence that the emergence of novel domains is foremost associated with environmental adaptation such as abiotic stress response. The results presented here illustrate the simplicity with which domain-based analyses can unravel key players of nature's adaptational machinery, complementing the classical site-based analyses of adaptation

A New Look at Intergenerational Mobility in Germany Compared to the US

Motivated by contradictory evidence on intergenerational mobility in Germany, I present a cross-country comparison of Germany and the US, reassessing the question of whether intergenerational mobility is higher in Germany than the US. I can reproduce the standard result from the literature, which states that the German intergenerational elasticity estimates are lower than those for the US. However, based on highly comparable data, even a reasonable degree of variation in the sampling rules leads to similar estimates in both countries. I find no evidence for nonlinearities along the fathers' earnings distribution. In contrast, the analysis shows that mobility is higher for the sons at the lowest quartile of the sons' earnings distribution in both countries. In Germany this result is mainly driven by a high downward mobility of sons with fathers in the upper middle part of the earnings distribution. The corresponding pattern is clearly less pronounced in the US

Parasites and Raven Mothers: A German-Japanese Comparison on (Lone) Motherhood

Having a child out of wedlock used to be associated with shame and scorn. This is mostly not the case anymore in the western world. Therefore, freed from social sanctions, single motherhood has become an additional family-choice alternative for women, along with marriage and childlessness. Yet, the institutions that influence women's decisions differ across countries. We compare the institutional frame, in particular labor-market characteristics and family law, in Germany and Japan and, in addition, the interaction between culture and institutions. Both countries had a very traditional (one-earner) family system until the second half of the 20th century. Now we can observe that social changes that happened in Germany decades ago are happening only now in Japan. We analyze if and how the consequences in terms of family structures and fertility rates that resulted in Germany can be transfered to Japan.Dieser Artikel vergleicht die institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen in Deutschland und Japan, die die Fertilitätsentscheidung von Frauen beeinflussen können. Wir richten unser Augenmerk speziell auf Familienrecht, Arbeitsmarktcharakteristika und die Interaktion zwischen Institutionen und kulturellen Faktoren. Daraus leiten wir Implikationen für die relative Attraktivität von Ehe und Mutterschaft in beiden Ländern ab. Wir stellen fest, dass soziale Veränderungen, die in Deutschland vor einigen Jahrzenten vor sich gingen - insbesondere die Aufweichung der traditionellen Alleinverdiener-Familie - in Japan derzeit passieren. Wir analysieren, ob sich die Konsequenzen für Familienstruktur und Geburtenrate von Deutschland auf Japan übertragen lassen

Employment Protection and Parental Child Care

I examine if employment protection affects parental childcare. I find that a softer employment protection has a substantial effect on how parents use and divide paid childcare between them. The identification relies on a reform that made it easier for employers in Sweden to dismiss workers in small firms. I estimate that a softer employment protection reduces the total days of parental childcare in targeted firms, measured as total days of parental leave or temporary parental leave. Both a sorting effect and a behavioral effect can explain the reduced childcare. I also find evidence of a redistribution effect of paid parental childcare within households if only one partner was affected by the reform. I interpret the redistribution effect as a way of evading an external cost on the child

Do Smart Parents Raise Smart Children? The Intergenerational Transmission of Cognitive Abilities

Complementing prior research on income mobility and educational transmission, we provide evidence on the intergenerational transmission of cognitive abilities using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study. Our estimates suggest that individuals' cognitive skills are positively related to the abilities of their parents, even when educational attainment and family background is controlled for. We differentiate between mothers' and fathers' IQ transmission and find different effects on the cognition of sons and daughters. We show that cognitive skills which are based on past learning are more strongly transmitted from parents to children than cognitive skills which are related to innate abilities. Our findings are not compatible with a pure genetic model, but rather point to the importance of parental investments for the cognitive outcomes of children

Does Parental Unemployment Affect the Quality of Their Children's First Job?

In this paper the relationship between parental unemployment at time of children's labor market entrance on the quality of their children's first job is analyzed. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for the years 1991-2012 the quality of the first job in terms of wage, permanent position and full-time employment is examined. The results show a negative correlation between fathers' unemployment at the time of children's labor market entrance and their children's first wage, while no significant relation can be found for unemployment or labor market inactivity of mothers.Dieses Papier analysiert die Bedeutung des Erwerbstatus der Eltern für die Qualität der ersten Beschäftigung von Berufseinsteigern auf Basis der Daten des sozio-ökonomischen Panels. Gegenstand der Untersuchung bilden die elterliche Erwerbslosigkeit zum Zeitpunkt des Arbeitsmarkteintritts und drei verschiedene Qualitätsindikatoren des ersten Jobs (erster Lohn; unbefristeter Vertrag; Vollzeitbeschäftigung). Die empirische Untersuchung zeigt einen negativen Zusammenhang zwischen väterlicher Erwerbslosigkeit und dem ersten Lohn des Kindes. Der negative Zusammenhang ist Hinweis darauf, dass junge Berufseinsteiger im Falle väterlicher Erwerbslosigkeit einen niedrigeren Lohn akzeptieren im Vergleich zu Berufseinsteigern arbeitender Väter. Eine mögliche Begründung dafür ist das Bedürfnis zeitnah in den Arbeitsmarkt einzutreten, um das gesunkene Haushaltseinkommen zu kompensieren. Die Betrachtung der mütterlichen Erwerbslosigkeit scheint keine relevanten Auswirkungen zu haben. Resümierend weisen die Ergebnisse der Studie darauf hin, dass der dringliche Bedarf besteht, Kinder erwerbsloser Väter in politische Maßnahmen zu integrieren, um den Arbeitsmarkteintritt erfolgreich zu gestalten

Improvements and Future Challenges in the Field of Genetically Sensitive Sample Designs

Understanding the sources of individual differences beyond social and economic effects has become a research area of growing interest in psychology, sociology, and economics. A quantitative genetic research design provides the necessary tools for this type of analysis. For a state-of-the-art approach, multigroup data is required. Household panel studies, such as BHPS (Understanding Society) in the UK or the SOEP in Germany, combined with an oversampling of twins, provide a powerful starting point since data from a reasonably large number of non-twin relatives is readily available. In addition to advances in our understanding of genetic and environmental influences on key variables in the social sciences, quantitative genetic analyses of target variables can guide molecular genetic research in the field of employment, earnings, health and satisfaction, as combined twin and sibling or parent data can help overcome serious caveats in molecular genetic research