| By: |
Thomas Buser (University of Amsterdam, Tinbergen Institute);
Rafael Ahlskog (Department of Government, Uppsala University);
Magnus Johannesson (Stockholm School of Economics);
Philipp Koellinger (La Follette School of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin Madison);
Sven Oskarsson (Department of Government, Uppsala University) |
| Abstract: |
A large literature establishes that cognitive and non-cognitive skills are
strongly correlated with educational attainment and professional achievement.
Isolating the causal effects of these traits on career outcomes is made
difficult by reverse causality and selection issues. We suggest a different
approach: instead of using direct measures of individual traits, we use
differences between individuals in the presence of genetic variants that are
associated with differences in skills and personality traits. Genes are fixed
over the life cycle and genetic differences between full siblings are random,
making it possible to establish the causal effects of within-family genetic
variation. We link genetic data from individuals in the Swedish Twin Registry
to government registry data and find evidence for causal effects of genetic
differences linked to cognitive skills, personality traits, and economic
preferences on professional achievement and educational attainment. Our
results also demonstrate that education and labor market outcomes are
partially the result of a genetic lottery |
| Keywords: |
personality traits, economic preferences, cognitive skills, labor markets, education, polygenic indices |
| JEL: |
I26 J24 D91 |
| Date: |
2021–10–07 |
| URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20210088&r=neu |