ICES Seminar in Experimental Economics and Game Theory
The Effect of Education on the Relationship Between Genetics, Early-Life Disadvantages, and Later-Life SES
Friday, November 10, 2023 12:10 PM to 1:10 PM EST
Vernon Smith Hall (formerly Metropolitan Building), 5183
The ICES Seminar in Experimental Economics and Game Theory of the Fall 2023 semester will feature:
University of Southern California
Abstract
We investigate whether education weakens the relationship between early-life disadvantages and later-life SES. Besides early, favorable family and neighborhood conditions, we argue that the genes children inherit also represent a source of advantages. Using a regression discontinuity design, we study a UK compulsory schooling reform that generated exogenous variation in schooling. The reform reduced educational disparities driven by both environmental (e.g. credit constraints) and genetic advantages (e.g. innate ability). However, it did not narrow the wage gap between disadvantaged and advantaged children because the latter had higher returns to schooling.
For more information about the Seminar Series, please visit the Seminar Schedule homepage.
