Dear colleagues,
We hereby invite you to join our next Economics
of Inequality Research Seminar at WU Vienna.
Paul Hufe (University of Bristol)
will present the paper
The Genetic
Lottery Goes to
School: Evidence from Norway.
Date and Time:
Monday, November 18; 3.00 p.m.
Location: WU Vienna, D4 - D4.0.127.
Abstract
Genetic endowments are fixed at conception, and they remain constant over the life course of individuals. Therefore, genetic inequality contradicts the widespread goal of providing equal educational
opportunities to all members of society. In line with this policy goal, there is a long-standing literature in economics, sociology, and psychology that poses “the question of how well schools reduce the inequity of birth” (Coleman et al., 1966, p.36). In
this paper, we investigate the question of how well schools address inequalities based on genetic disadvantages by providing the first causal study to estimate the interaction between genetic endowments and school quality. To this end, we combine Norwegian
data on genetic trios (mothers, fathers, fathers) with validated measures of school value-added. Our (preliminary) findings suggest that schools equalize opportunities by reducing genetic gradients in reading (but not numeracy).
Please register your participation
here.
Best regards,
Franziska Disslbacher
----
Franziska Disslbacher, PhD
Assistant Professor
Institute for Spatial & Social-Ecological Transformations
&
Research Institute Economics of Inequality
WU, Vienna University of Economics and Business
+43 1 313 36 6669
franziska.disslbacher@wu.ac.at
WU, Vienna University of Economics and Business
Welthandelsplatz 1, 1020 Vienna, Austria
Building D3, D3 0.251