Unequal chances : family background and economic success

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Bibliographic Information

Unequal chances : family background and economic success

edited by Samuel Bowles, Herbert Gintis, and Melissa Osborne Groves

Princeton University Press , Russell Sage Foundation, c2005

  • : pbk

Other Title

Family background and economic success

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Note

Research from a workshop, "Persistent Inequality in a Competitive World," and from other projects funded by a grant from the Russell Sage Foundation to the Santa Fe Institute

Bibliography: p. [277]-296

Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

ISBN 9780691119304

Description

Is the United States "the land of equal opportunity" or is the playing field tilted in favor of those whose parents are wealthy, well educated, and white? If family background is important in getting ahead, why? And if the processes that transmit economic status from parent to child are unfair, could public policy address the problem? "Unequal Chances" provides new answers to these questions by leading economists, sociologists, biologists, behavioral geneticists, and philosophers. New estimates show that intergenerational inequality in the United States is far greater than was previously thought. Moreover, while the inheritance of wealth and the better schooling typically enjoyed by the children of the well-to-do contribute to this process, these two standard explanations fail to explain the extent of intergenerational status transmission.The genetic inheritance of IQ is even less important. Instead, parent-offspring similarities in personality and behavior may play an important role. Race contributes to the process, and the intergenerational mobility patterns of African Americans and European Americans differ substantially. Following the editors' introduction are chapters by Greg Duncan, Ariel Kalil, Susan E. Mayer, Robin Tepper, and Monique R. Payne; Bhashkar Mazumder; David J. Harding, Christopher Jencks, Leonard M. Lopoo, and Susan E. Mayer; Anders Bjorklund, Markus Jantti, and Gary Solon; Tom Hertz; John C. Loehlin; Melissa Osborne Groves; Marcus W. Feldman, Shuzhuo Li, Nan Li, Shripad Tuljapurkar, and Xiaoyi Jin; and Adam Swift.

Table of Contents

Preface vii Introduction by Samuel Bowles, Herbert Gintis, and Melissa Osborne Groves 1 Chapter One: The Apple Does Not Fall Far from the Tree by Greg Duncan, Ariel Kalil, Susan E. Mayer, Robin Tepper, and Monique R. Payne 23 Chapter Two: The Apple Falls Even Closer to the Tree than We Thought: New and Revised Estimates of the Intergenerational Inheritance of Earnings by Bhashkar Mazumder 80 Chapter Three: The Changing Effect of Family Background on the Incomes of American Adults by David J. Harding, Christopher Jencks, Leonard M. Lopoo, and Susan E. Mayer 100 Chapter Four: Influences of Nature and Nurture on Earnings Variation: A Report on a Study of Various Sibling Types in Sweden by Anders Bjorklund, Markus Jantti, and Gary Solon 145 Chapter Five: Rags, Riches, and Race: The Intergenerational Economic Mobility of Black and White Families in the United States by Tom Hertz 165 Chapter Six: Resemblance in Personality and Attitudes between Parents and Their Children: Genetic and Environmental Contributions by John C. Loehlin 192 Chapter Seven: Personality and the Intergenerational Transmission of Economic Status by Melissa Osborne Groves 208 Chapter Eight: Son Preference, Marriage, and Intergenerational Transfer in Rural China by Marcus W. Feldman, Shuzhuo Li, Nan Li, Shripad Tuljapurkar, and Xiaoyi Jin 232 Chapter Nine: Justice, Luck, and the Family: The Intergenerational Transmission of Economic Advantage from a Normative Perspective by Adam Swift 256 References 277 Index 297
Volume

: pbk ISBN 9780691136202

Description

Is the United States "the land of equal opportunity" or is the playing field tilted in favor of those whose parents are wealthy, well educated, and white? If family background is important in getting ahead, why? And if the processes that transmit economic status from parent to child are unfair, could public policy address the problem? Unequal Chances provides new answers to these questions by leading economists, sociologists, biologists, behavioral geneticists, and philosophers. New estimates show that intergenerational inequality in the United States is far greater than was previously thought. Moreover, while the inheritance of wealth and the better schooling typically enjoyed by the children of the well-to-do contribute to this process, these two standard explanations fail to explain the extent of intergenerational status transmission. The genetic inheritance of IQ is even less important. Instead, parent-offspring similarities in personality and behavior may play an important role. Race contributes to the process, and the intergenerational mobility patterns of African Americans and European Americans differ substantially. Following the editors' introduction are chapters by Greg Duncan, Ariel Kalil, Susan E. Mayer, Robin Tepper, and Monique R. Payne; Bhashkar Mazumder; David J. Harding, Christopher Jencks, Leonard M. Lopoo, and Susan E. Mayer; Anders Bjorklund, Markus Jantti, and Gary Solon; Tom Hertz; John C. Loehlin; Melissa Osborne Groves; Marcus W. Feldman, Shuzhuo Li, Nan Li, Shripad Tuljapurkar, and Xiaoyi Jin; and Adam Swift.

Table of Contents

Preface vii Introduction by Samuel Bowles, Herbert Gintis, and Melissa Osborne Groves 1 Chapter One: The Apple Does Not Fall Far from the Tree by Greg Duncan, Ariel Kalil, Susan E. Mayer, Robin Tepper, and Monique R. Payne 23 Chapter Two: The Apple Falls Even Closer to the Tree than We Thought: New and Revised Estimates of the Intergenerational Inheritance of Earnings by Bhashkar Mazumder 80 Chapter Three: The Changing Effect of Family Background on the Incomes of American Adults by David J. Harding, Christopher Jencks, Leonard M. Lopoo, and Susan E. Mayer 100 Chapter Four: Influences of Nature and Nurture on Earnings Variation: A Report on a Study of Various Sibling Types in Sweden by Anders Bjorklund, Markus Jantti, and Gary Solon 145 Chapter Five: Rags, Riches, and Race: The Intergenerational Economic Mobility of Black and White Families in the United States by Tom Hertz 165 Chapter Six: Resemblance in Personality and Attitudes between Parents and Their Children: Genetic and Environmental Contributions by John C. Loehlin 192 Chapter Seven: Personality and the Intergenerational Transmission of Economic Status by Melissa Osborne Groves 208 Chapter Eight: Son Preference, Marriage, and Intergenerational Transfer in Rural China by Marcus W. Feldman, Shuzhuo Li, Nan Li, Shripad Tuljapurkar, and Xiaoyi Jin 232 Chapter Nine: Justice, Luck, and the Family: The Intergenerational Transmission of Economic Advantage from a Normative Perspective by Adam Swift 256 References 277 Index 297

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