Daniel Hamermesh, University of Texas, Austin

Publishing, salaries, and other rewards, based on observations from 55 years in the economics profession. Join us for a presentation and Q&A / discussion time!

DATE: Friday, April 5, 2024

TIME: 11:15am-12:50pm

LOCATION: Fronczak 444

Since the mapping of the human genome in 2004, biologists have demonstrated genetic links to the expression of several income-enhancing physical traits. To illustrate how heredity produces intergenerational economic effects, this study uses one trait, beauty, to infer the extent to which parents’ physical characteristics transmit inequality across generations. Analyses of a large-scale longitudinal study in the U.S., and a much smaller data set of Chinese parents and children, show that a one standard deviation increase in parents’ looks is associated with a 0.4 standard-deviation increase in their child’s looks. A large data set of U.S. siblings shows a correlation of their beauty consistent with the same expression of their genetic similarity, as does a small sample of billionaire siblings. Coupling this estimate with parameter estimates from the literatures describing the impact of beauty on earnings and the intergenerational elasticity of income suggests that one standard-deviation difference in parents’ looks generates a 0.06 standard-deviation difference in their adult child’s earnings, which amounts on average to additional annual earnings in the U.S. of about $2300.

DATE: Friday, April 5, 2024

TIME: 3:30-5:00 p.m.

LOCATION: Fronczak 444