1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910140574003321

Titolo

Unequal chances : family background and economic success / / edited by Samuel Bowles, Herbert Gintis, and Melissa Osborne Groves

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Princeton, : Princeton University Press, 2005

ISBN

1-282-60829-0

9786612608292

1-4008-3549-6

Edizione

[Course Book]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (315 p.)

Classificazione

71.12

Altri autori (Persone)

BowlesSamuel

GintisHerbert

Osborne GrovesMelissa

Disciplina

339.2/2

Soggetti

Income distribution - Social aspects

Families - Economic aspects

Inheritance and succession - Social aspects

Equality - Psychological aspects

Social status - Psychological aspects

Social mobility - Psychological aspects

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Research from a workshop, "Persistent Inequality in a Competitive World," and from other projects funded by a grant from the Russell Sage Foundation to the Santa Fe Institute.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction / Bowles, Samuel / Gintis, Herbert / Osborne Groves, Melissa -- Chapter One. The Apple Does not Fall Far from the Tree / Duncan, Greg / Kalil, Ariel / Mayer, Susan E. / Tepper, Robin / Payne, Monique R. -- Chapter Two. The Apple Falls even Closer to the Tree than We Thought / Mazumder, Bhashkar -- Chapter Three. The Changing Effect of Family Background on the Incomes of American Adults / Harding, David J. / Jencks, Christopher / Lopoo, Leonard M. / Mayer, Susan E. -- Chapter Four. Influences of Nature and Nurture on Earnings Variation / Björklund, Anders / Jäntti, Markus / Solon, Gary -- Chapter Five. Rags, Riches, and Race / Hertz, Tom -- Chapter Six. Resemblance in Personality and Attitudes Between Parents and their Children / Loehlin, John C. --



Chapter Seven. Personality and the Intergenerational Transmission of Economic Status / Osborne Groves, Melissa -- Chapter Eight. Son Preference, Marriage, and Intergenerational Transfer in Rural China / Feldman, Marcus W. / Li, Shuzhuo / Li, Nan / Tuljapurkar, Shripad / Jin, Xiaoyi -- Chapter Nine. Justice, Luck, and The Family / Swift, Adam -- References -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Is the United States "the land of equal opportunity" or is the playing field tilted in favor of those whose parents are wealthy, well educated, and white? If family background is important in getting ahead, why? And if the processes that transmit economic status from parent to child are unfair, could public policy address the problem? Unequal Chances provides new answers to these questions by leading economists, sociologists, biologists, behavioral geneticists, and philosophers. New estimates show that intergenerational inequality in the United States is far greater than was previously thought. Moreover, while the inheritance of wealth and the better schooling typically enjoyed by the children of the well-to-do contribute to this process, these two standard explanations fail to explain the extent of intergenerational status transmission. The genetic inheritance of IQ is even less important. Instead, parent-offspring similarities in personality and behavior may play an important role. Race contributes to the process, and the intergenerational mobility patterns of African Americans and European Americans differ substantially. Following the editors' introduction are chapters by Greg Duncan, Ariel Kalil, Susan E. Mayer, Robin Tepper, and Monique R. Payne; Bhashkar Mazumder; David J. Harding, Christopher Jencks, Leonard M. Lopoo, and Susan E. Mayer; Anders Björklund, Markus Jäntti, and Gary Solon; Tom Hertz; John C. Loehlin; Melissa Osborne Groves; Marcus W. Feldman, Shuzhuo Li, Nan Li, Shripad Tuljapurkar, and Xiaoyi Jin; and Adam Swift.