Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/150703 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research No. 156
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
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.
Subjects: 
Cognitive abilities
intergenerational IQ transmission
skill formation
JEL: 
J10
J24
I20
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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