Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/229673 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper No. TI 2020-053/V
Publisher: 
Tinbergen Institute, Amsterdam and Rotterdam
Abstract: 
We develop a polygenic index for individual income and examine random differences in this index with lifetime outcomes in a sample of ~35,000 biological siblings. We find that genetic fortune for higher income causes greater socio-economic status and better health, partly via intervenable environmental pathways such as education. The positive returns to schooling remain substantial even after controlling for now observable genetic confounds. Our findings illustrate that inequalities in education, income, and health are partly due the outcomes of a genetic lottery. However, the consequences of different genetic endowments are malleable, for example via policies that target education.
Subjects: 
Income
education
health
inequality
heritability
genetics
polygenic index
JEL: 
J00
I20
I10
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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